Jack Dean Werner was a 33-year-old deputy sheriff from Rochester, Minnesota, who was killed on May 17, 1977. Werner confronted a driver behaving erratically in the deserted Apache Mall parking lot. The driver, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, opened fire and struck Deputy Werner twice in the chest. The shooter fled in Werner’s patrol car but was arrested about four hours later.

The suspect, then 20 years old, was convicted of first-degree murder and received a life sentence on September 21, 1977. While serving that sentence, the same prisoner killed a fellow inmate at Stillwater Prison on September 20, 1980; 14 years were later added to his sentence on May 19, 1981. Werner’s death is remembered by colleagues and the community he served.

If anyone has memories of Deputy Werner, his service, or the Apache Mall parking lot that night, please share what you know.