More than 10 years after Cold Spring Police Officer Tommy Decker was killed in the line of duty, a bronze monument dedicated to him will be unveiled.

Organizers raised nearly $71,000 to create the memorial, which features a bronze statue in front of the city's police station. Cold Spring resident Paul Waletzko spearheaded the drive.

Decker, 31, was shot and killed behind a downtown Cold Spring bar while on duty in November 2012 as he responded to a report of a suicidal person. Though no one was charged or convicted in Decker's death, the main suspect, Eric Thomes, hanged himself in 2013 after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement at his home in rural Cold Spring.

The memorial depicts an officer holding the hand of a boy with an ice cream cone — an homage to Decker, who got lost in the St. Cloud mall as a child and was comforted by a kind officer who brought him a cone while they waited for Decker's older sister to find him. His mother, Rosella Decker, previously told the Star Tribune that was one of the reasons he wanted to become a cop.

A plaque honoring Tommy Decker, who was shot to death while working as a Cold Spring police officer in November 2012, is shown in September 2022 outside the Cold Spring Police Department. After several months of fundraising, organizers broke ground on a new memorial in May 2023. It will be dedicated Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.
Anthony Souffle, Star Tribune
A plaque honoring Tommy Decker, who was shot to death while working as a Cold Spring police officer in November 2012, is shown in September 2022 outside the Cold Spring Police Department. After several months of fundraising, organizers broke ground on a new memorial in May 2023. It will be dedicated Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.

Last fall, several hundred people gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of Decker's death and honor other officers killed in the line of duty. In May, organizers broke ground on the memorial and family members left handprints in the monument's cement base.

A public dedication for the memorial will be at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13 outside Cold Spring City Hall. The ceremony will culminate the annual BoniFest celebration organized by St. Boniface Parish in Cold Spring. Decker's family will serve as grand marshals in the festival's parade.