Public Memorial Set for Pope County Deputy Killed in the Line of Duty

(KNSI) — A public memorial is set for this weekend for the Pope County sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty Saturday evening.

Visitation for 44-year-old Joshua Owen will be from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 21st, at Minnewaska Area High School in Glenwood and again at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 22nd. The funeral service will be at 10:30 in the high school gym. Owen leaves behind a wife and son. He had been with the department for 12 years, was an Army veteran and had a K9 partner named Karma.

Owen, along with another deputy and an officer from the Starbuck Police Department, were sent to an apartment for a domestic assault call in Cyrus at about 7:30. They went in and told a man there that he was under arrest. That’s when he drew a gun and started firing, according to investigators. Officers returned fire, and the man was also killed. The other two officers were hurt but were treated and released.

A large procession of emergency vehicles escorted Deputy Owen’s body from Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Ramsey on Monday.

Sheriff Tim Riley remembered Owen by saying he “had a heart as big as his stature” and that he “loves his family, his brotherhood and his community.” Owen was also a U.S. Army veteran.

The Minnesota Peace and Police Officer’s Association, Law Enforcement Labor Services, and the MN Fraternal Order of Police are partnering to collect donations that will go directly to help Owen’s family.

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