ST. PETER —Martin Gibbs arrived early, double fisting flag poles he’d crafted in high school and sporting a cowboy hat and mirrored shades.
On one pole, Old Glory, the bottom fringe of which he carefully kept from touching the sidewalk. On the other, the Thin Blue Line flag, famously flown to show support for law enforcement.
“The goal today is to show our support and honor someone who could have fallen in the line of duty,” he said.
Hundreds of well-wishers gathered Friday along Minnesota Avenue in St. Peter to welcome home Austin Buss, the St. Peter police officer shot last week by Jordan Michael Donahue, 21, of St. Peter, who had fled police and led them on a chase from Mankato to St. Peter.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, on June 18 Donahue fired upon Buss and another law enforcement officer with a shotgun after he’d fled into his Bunker Lane townhome in St. Peter. Buss was has been recovering since the incident, and Friday was homecoming day.
The people lining the roadside came from different backgrounds and knew Buss to varying degrees. Some had worked in law enforcement. Others had only met him at community events. Others had never met him at all. Didn’t matter — they just wanted to welcome him home.
For 14-year-old William Weber, attending the procession wasn’t something his mom, who was sitting nearby, talked him into.
“I wanted to,” he said. “We both wanted to.”
Weber said he couldn’t believe an officer had been shot in St. Peter.
“It was crazy,” he said. “I didn’t think anything like that could happen here.”
He said he wanted the officer’s family to know the community was behind them.
Nearby, Joel Lindgren and Joy Sindelir said they came because they appreciate the risks officers take every day.
“We are so happy to have public servants that will go to the lengths they do to take care of what needs taken care of,” Lindgren said.
Sindelir said she worked alongside the St. Peter Police Department for years and developed close relationships with officers. They said they’d also met the injured officer through community outreach events, where they brought their grandson.
“We’re just here to support those who protect us,” she said.
The couple said it was important for their grandson to see police officers as trusted members of the community.
“We want to make sure he sees our law enforcement as his friends and partners,” Sindelir said.
Lindgren said Friday’s procession gave residents an opportunity to return the support officers routinely provide.
“We need to be there for them,” he said, “like they are for us.”