St. Paul Sgt. Vick remembered 20 years after he was killed in line of duty

Sgt Gerald Vick was when he was shot and killed Friday May in St Paul Minn while working undercover with a vice unit It was the department's first line-of-duty death since Courtesy of the St Paul Police Department Law enforcement and St Paul firefighters wait near Erick's Bar on E Seventh St in St Paul on May where police officer Sgt Gerald Vick was shot early that morning in an alley across the street from the bar Police declared Vick and a fellow officer were working a prostitution examination in the bar before the shooting Vick was taken to Regions Hospital but less than minutes later at a m he was pronounced dead Craig Borck Pioneer Press A SWAT group stands by Friday May outside a home in the block of Minnehaha Avenue as St Paul police and other law enforcement personnel set up a perimeter and searched house-to-house for the killers of Sgt Gerald Vick Craig Borck Pioneer Press St Paul Police Sgt Shawn Campbell adds a snapshot of Sgt Gerald Vick to the wall that carries Vick's newly-etched name at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D C on Saturday May Campbell was part of a contingent of St Paul Police officers who traveled to Washington to honor Vick the first St Paul police officer killed in the line of duty in years who was shot to death May John Doman Pioneer Press St Paul Sgt Gerald Vick's longtime police partner Sgt Matt Toupal escorts Connie Vick back to her seat after she received her husband's posthumous Medal of Honor from the Fraternal Order of Police in Washington D C on Monday May John Doman Pioneer Press Kevin Torgerson of the Olmstead County Sheriff's Department composes himself after playing Taps with other Law Enforcement Memorial Association buglers during the interment for Sgt Gerald Vick at St Mary's Cemetery in North St Paul on May John Doman Pioneer Press Show Caption of Sgt Gerald Vick was when he was shot and killed Friday May in St Paul Minn while working undercover with a vice unit It was the department's first line-of-duty death since Courtesy of the St Paul Police Department Expand St Paul Police Sgt Jerry Vick would be retired from the police department now and enjoying being a grandfather He was when he was fatally shot in the line of duty on May His two children were and back then After years I still find it hard to believe that he s gone Matt Toupal who was Vick s long-time police partner explained of late It s hard every year to reflect on that because his death was so violent There s scars his family his wife his children the grandchildren that he s not able to see The police department which usually has roll call meetings in each patrol district before shifts start will be holding a citywide roll call for current and retired officers to memorialize Vick on Tuesday Vick had been working undercover with another officer probing prostitution in St Paul s Dayton s Bluff neighborhood when there was a confrontation outside a bar and Vick was shot in an alley Harry Jerome Evans now was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence in prison Vick s death was the first line-of-duty death of a St Paul police officer since Ron Ryan Jr and Tim Jones in and he was the last St Paul officer fatally shot in the line of duty though there have been other tragedies In the years since other officers have been shot in St Paul and survived On May Maplewood Sgt Joe Bergeron was searching for carjacking defendants in St Paul when he was killed in an ambush Also during the last two decades the St Paul police department has recognized the deaths of two other officers Joseph Lynaugh and Felicia Reilly as occurring in the line of duty Rescued kids from fire delivered baby in a living room Toupal who retired as a St Paul police deputy chief three years ago met Vick in when they were in the St Paul Police Department academy together They had us in alphabetical order and Toupal is next to Vick so we started talking and we connected Toupal remembered They were partnered for the following years On a night when they were in separate squad cars because of short-staffing Toupal arrived at a house fire after Vick I thought Boy this is a bad fire I looked a little closer and there s Jerry up on the second floor handing out a baby and saving lives Vick pulled a -year-old boy from that burning house in and crawled back in to rescue a -month-old girl The police department awarded Vick the Medal of Valor its highest honor He was later recognized with two more the the greater part at the time in the department s history Jerry reliably had a knack for being at the right place at the right time Toupal mentioned One time Vick and Toupal were sent to what was announced as a violent domestic assault From outside the house the officers could hear arguing they pounded on the door but realized it wasn t an assault at all a woman was about to have a baby and her husband was screaming for help Toupal explained In the living room Vick delivered the baby boy whose umbilical cord was around his neck he unwrapped the cord and was able to get the baby to start breathing It was really remarkable because we weren t trained in delivering babies but Jerry was the man That s what he did all the time Toupal reported Vick s mom died in Vick s wife Connie never remarried his friends say The couple s son and daughter each have children of their own now Vick s father Dennis died the month after his son His mother Maggie Vick died in When Toupal and Vick were partners Toupal remembers that Vick s mother was really concerned that her son would get hurt as an officer Toupal noted he communicated Maggie he d make sure nothing happened to her son Then after Vick was killed and people poured into Maggie s house he knew what she would say to him She was crying and I can see her now pointing her finger at me saying You promised me ' Toupal declared What do you say to that Other than just giving her a hug and saying you re sorry Though the officers were working in different units and weren t together when Vick was shot Toupal mentioned he understood Maggie s pain Bear of a guy with big heart At Vick s memorial utility then-Police Chief John Harrington announced a young woman described him that Vick saved her life when she was Vick who was working in the vice unit when he was killed was known for trying to rescue girls and women from prostitution Related Articles Man charged in St Paul woman s fatal stabbing has history of domestic violence Letters Authentically it IS about President Trump A police fire and aviation summer camp At he s all about it Man arrested in domestic violence homicide in St Paul home State trooper charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct of infant He was a big bear of a guy but it didn t matter if you were a victim or a suspect he had this big loving heart disclosed retired St Paul Sgt Shawn Campbell last week He met Vick and Toupal when he also patrolled in the Eastern District and the three were later on the SWAT band together The police department started the Gerald D Vick Human Trafficking Task Force in after Vick was killed The taskforce has since joined a state taskforce to have a bigger impact according to a police spokeswoman Each anniversary of Vick s death is a painful reminder Campbell mentioned There s invariably a hole in your heart and that doesn t heal he added