Chetek Police Officer Emily Breidenbach dies while conducting a traffic stop, along with Cameron Police Officer Hunter Scheel
BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Emily Breidenbach, a 2009 graduate of Merrill High School, was killed in the line of duty as a Police Officer with the Chetek Police Department on Saturday, April 8, 2023.
According to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Breidenbach conducted a traffic stop in the Village of Cameron in Barron County, Wis., at approximately 3:38 p.m., along with Cameron Police Officer Hunter Scheel.
“The officers were conducting the traffic stop based on a warrant and to check welfare of the driver, Glenn Douglas Perry, age 50, following notification of concerning behavior. During the traffic stop, gunfire was exchanged,” the press release said.
As a result, both Officer Breidenbach, age 32, and Officer Scheel, age 23, were killed in the line of duty and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Perry was transported to a hospital where he later died.
Breidenbach served the Stoughton Police Department in Dane County for approximately nine months and then joined the Chetek Police Department where she served for approximately four years, since 2019. Breidenbach was also the handler for the Chetek Police Department’s therapy dog, K9 Officer Grizz. She attended college for police science, following in her father’s footsteps. Her father, Robert Breidenbach, is a former Police Chief.
Scheel had just graduated from Law Enforcement Academy in Dec. 2022 and had been with the Cameron Police Department for about one year. He was an Army National Guard veteran who had served in Afghanistan.
A law enforcement honor procession left Barron early Monday to deliver the bodies of Breidenbach and Scheel for autopsies to be performed in the medical examiner’s office in Ramsey County, Minn., and returned to Wisconsin later that day, escorting the officers to the appropriate funeral homes. Officers will stand vigil by each officer’s side until the services are complete, according to the Chetek Police Department. Funeral arrangements with Law Enforcement Honors are pending.
Mourning Breidenbach
In Breidenbach’s 2009 KEMO, the quote she chose to include beneath her Senior portrait seems strangely prophetic now. The quote she chose: “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. – Mark Twain”
When attending Merrill High School, Breidenbach was an Employability Student, and she was involved in various sports throughout her high school years, playing Softball as a Freshman, competing in Track and Field as a Sophomore, playing Volleyball from grades 9-11, and playing Basketball all four years in high school, including as a member of the Merrill Girls Varsity Basketball Team.
In a press release, Chief Ron Ambrozaitis of the Chetek Police Department said of Breidenbach: “Her compassion for the community and the children of the community of Chetek was remarkable.”
Courage, Incorporated, a non-profit organization in Ishpeming, Mich., that provides free outdoor adventures to those living with physical disabilities and chronic illness, posted a tribute to Breidenbach on their Facebook page: “We first met Emily in 2018 when Emily was working for Cabela’s sporting goods store,” it said. “She organized a substantial donation for Courage Incorporated including several thousand dollars of merchandise including kayaks, a camp kitchen, and other much needed gear. Her contribution helped propel our program offerings and our experiences to a whole new level. She was a genuinely caring person and we appreciate everything she’s done for us, and everything that she’s done in her own community. Our condolences go out to her family, her friends, and to the Chetek Police Department.”
Friends and some loved ones also turned to Facebook, sharing photos and video of Breidenbach. One such video showed a uniformed Breidenbach dancing outside in a parking lot with youth, clearly having fun with the young girls, with a live band playing behind them. After dancing, she gave out stickers to the kids.
“A respected officer, a mentor, a role model, most of all a genuinely good person,” another Facebook post said.
Another said Breidenbach was “widely known for her commitment to community, and frequent interaction with children and the department’s service K-9 Grizz.”
Some sources said Breidenbach had recently gotten engaged.
We extend prayers and heartfelt sympathy to the family, friends, loved ones, and fellow officers of both fallen Officer Emily Breidenbach and Officer Hunter Scheel. The heartbreak and loss is unimaginable, and the sacrifice of the men and women who are on the front lines every day, laying down their lives in service to others, cannot be fully appreciated until that loss becomes real and personal and the faces of those men and women are the faces of the ones you know and love. Our hearts go out to you.
Investigation continues
DCI is leading an investigation into this incident, as is the norm for officer-involved critical incidents. They are being assisted by Barron County Sheriff’s Office, Rusk County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin State Patrol, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin State Crime Lab, a DCI Crime Response Specialist, and Cameron Fire Department.
All involved law enforcement are fully cooperating with DCI during this investigation, the release said, and DCI is continuing to review evidence and determine the facts of this incident. After the conclusion of the investigation, investigative reports will be turned over to the Barron County District Attorney.