Robbinsdale Marks 40th Anniversary of Officer Killed in Line of Duty
Feb. 14 marks a difficult time in the history of the Robbinsdale Police Department. Forty years ago today, one of their own died in the line of duty.
Robbinsdale police took time on Friday to remember officer John Scanlon. A statue outside the police station honors his service.
“He was a loving husband and father, who is remembered for being laid back and having a big smile,” said Robbinsdale Police Capt. John Elder.
Scanlon was working the overnight shift when he was dispatched to a burglary report at an office building located at 3735 Lakeland Avenue North.
Officer Scanlon was on duty with his partner, officer Lowell Hughes, who checked out the scene, but could not locate a suspect upon an initial search. That suspect had hid in the building and later took the 911 caller hostage at gunpoint.
As officer Scanlon pulled up to the building in his squad preparing to leave, the suspect went outside with the hostage and yelled that the person police were looking for ran across the street. The hostage then ran in front of the squad attempting to escape, when the suspect reached into Scanlon’s squad and shot the officer at point blank range.
Hughes returned to find his partner shot and unresponsive in the squad.
“Forty years ago today, the reckless actions of another person took Officer John Scanlon from this Earth,” said Elder in a statement to CCX News. “He may be gone, but he is not forgotten!”
The suspect, Ronald Schneider, now in his 80s, is serving a life sentence in prison.
Scanlon was the first Robbinsdale officer to die in the line of duty. At the time, he was also the first homicide in the city since the 1930s.
Scanlon was 35 years old. He left behind a wife and son.
