A member of the North County Police Cooperative is being remembered as an outstanding officer and a mentor to younger members of the department.
Officer Michael Langsdorf, 40, was shot and killed in the line of duty Sunday.
“He wanted to help people. He’d be there for anybody, anywhere,” said Police Cooperative Maj. Ron Martin.
Martin says Langsdorf responded to a call of someone trying to pass a bad check at Clay’s Wellston Food Market Restaurant on Page Avenue in Wellston. A struggle ensued with the suspect, and Langsdorf ended up on the floor where he was shot in the back of the neck.
Langsdorf was pronounced dead a short time later at an area hospital.
The man accused in the shooting, Bonnette Kymbrelle Meeks, 26, fled on foot. He was eventually captured and taken into custody.
Authorities say he confessed Monday morning and is facing several charges including one count of first degree murder. A weapon has been recovered and investigators are trying to track where it came from.
Langsdorf had been with the cooperative for about three months. He spent several years with the St. Louis Police Department.
During a news conference Monday, Chief John Buchanan recalled the first time he met Langsdorf.
"He said to me, several times, all I wanted to be was a police officer and do police work," Buchanan remembered.
Langsdorf had two children and was engaged to be married.
The cooperative was founded about four years ago. This is the first time an officer with the department has been killed in the line of duty.
According to its website, the cooperative provides services in at least five north county municipalities. It has roughly 60 police officers and some civilian personnel.
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