Thursday night, Oct. 14, officer Ryan Gehrke was recognized by the Waseca Police Department for his response to the Arik Matson shooting.
Photo by Angela Gehrke
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
Ryan Gehrke received a unit commendation at 7 p.m. on Thurs., Oct. 14 for his role in responding to the Arik Matson shooting in Waseca on Jan. 6, 2020.
Gehrke wears many hats. He works full-time for UPS out of Owatonna, as well as part-time as a police officer for New Richland. Yet he still finds time to help out on his dad's Waterville acreage. He was getting into a combine to harvest corn when the Star Eagle caught up with him for an interview.
Gehrke was informed two months prior that he would be recognized at the event, where Waseca County honors fire department and ambulance crews, police officers, and numerous citizens for life-saving awards or for calling in suspicious circumstances that led to investigations. In 2020 the event was postponed because of Covid. This year the evening of recognition took place at the Waseca High School Performing Arts Center.
On the night of recognition, Gehrke received a certificate and a red, white, and blue bar pin for his invaluable service. Gehrke's family attended the event, including his wife, Angela, their four children, and one of his younger sisters, who is a Deputy in Blue Earth County.
As with many heroes, Gehrke is low-key about the role he played: “When you're just doing your job, you don't expect these things. Pretty much anyone that had some kind of involvement, either with responding or helping out, was recognized with a thank you for anything they happened to do that night.”
But the Waseca police department needed all the help they could get in responding to the Arik Matson shooting.
Gehrke said, “On that night, I was obviously responding from New Richland.” Gehrke explained that, since other police units were handling situations elsewhere, he happened to be the first officer outside of Waseca to arrive on scene. “They had Waseca City police obviously already on scene. The ambulance was already on scene. But I beat the deputies, I beat the city of Janesville up there.
“I arrived, and Arik was already in the ambulance, and they had the suspect on the ground,” Gehrke continued, “and I just provided additional security around the area, so they could deal with the crime scene, and try to keep people away [...]. It doesn't sound like anything major, but, when you have a crime scene like that that needs to be investigated by the BCA [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension], we need to keep everything and everybody out until they can do their job.”
As other officers arrived from other communities, they began responding to calls to the Waseca police department, giving the Waseca unit a moment to process what had just happened to one of their fellow officers.
Gehrke said he will always remember the bitter cold that night, and his oldest daughter asking him why he wore so many layers when he went to work. Gehrke told her, “You never know what you need to be prepared for.” Gehrke called that night a case in point. “You never know when you're going to have to stand outside in the cold. You never know when you're going to get a chance to warm up or go inside, and that was the case that night.”
And Gehrke did stand outside for hours, keeping the sidewalk and the street clear, and making sure no one wandered into the crime scene area. “And I was just fine,” said Gehrke, “because I dressed appropriately. It was nice that someone eventually did show up with some hot coffee or cocoa. That kind of helped out.”
Gehrke summarizes his role that night: “It doesn't seem like much, but I know in the end that's what needed to happen.”
As for picking corn, Gehrke said, “It's not work, because I look forward to it every year.”