The Eleven Missoula Law Enforcement Officers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
Tonight, May 17, at 7:00 p.m., Missoulians will gather to respect the fallen at the Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony in Rose Park. The Memorial there is inscribed with the names of 11 individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice, they are listed below along with a link to a brief biography.
2010, wasn’t that long ago, and many Missoula Police, like Public Information Officer Travis Welsh, remember working side-by-side with Heinle.
"I worked very closely with him..." Welsh said. "Every time I think about Bob, I think about the kind of person he was and how sometimes life doesn't seem fair, you know, to take somebody like that. There's still hurt in my heart that I've lost a brother, but it helps, it helps to have this ceremony and to be able to go and pay my respects."
Officer Bob Heinle was shot by James Martin in 1998, when Heinle responded to a local bank that had called in to report a forged check. Heinle was paralyzed in the incident and later passed away due to complications from the paralysis. A memorial to Heinle was installed in the Stockman Bank Building near the corner of Orange and Broadway earlier this week, not far from where Heinle was gunned down.