(LINK TO FULL REPORT BELOW)
Firefighter Mitchell F. Lundgaard was a married father of three who joined the Appleton department in 2005.
On May 15, 2019, Firefighter Lundgaard was killed, and a police officer and a civilian were injured after
being shot while on an emergency medical services (EMS) incident involving a patient who overdosed.
The firefighter was part of a three-person crew on engine 9321 that was dispatched along with a
private ambulance company at approximately 5:30 p.m. to the report of a patient who had a seizure on
a public bus at a bus terminal. A police officer was first on scene.
The unconscious patient was successfully treated with naloxone on the bus by a paramedic and
regained consciousness. The patient and responders then exited the bus at 5:47 p.m. A second police
officer arrived after the patient walked off the bus.
The police officers, fire, and EMS crews believed that the naloxone would wear off and were
concerned for the patient’s continued well-being. All of the responders expressed their concerns for the
patient’s well-being to the patient multiple times. Because all of the responders believed the patient
would need additional medical assistance and should be transported to a local hospital for follow-up
medical care, the police officers asked the patient repeatedly if he had anything on his person that
could harm the fire and/or EMS responders. During this conversation, the patient abruptly produced a
concealed handgun and began firing at the responders. Police officers immediately returned fire as they
moved to cover. The fire and EMS crews also ran for cover. The patient/shooter and police officers
exchanged gun fire. One firefighter was shot within 3 seconds of the handgun being produced by the
patient and collapsed while seeking cover. He was found unresponsive approximately 80 seconds later
and treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. A police
officer was shot while returning gun fire. The patient/shooter took a civilian bystander as a hostage and
continued to fire until the patient/shooter was shot and fell to the ground. The civilian hostage was also
shot. The patient/shooter was secured, provided medical treatment for his injuries and transported to a
local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The wounded police officer was transported to a local
hospital by a fellow police officer. The wounded civilian was transported by ambulance to a local
hospital. Both the wounded police officer and civilian were treated at local hospitals and recovered.
The first gun shot was fired by the patient at 6:09 p.m. This was 39 minutes after the arrival of
emergency responders and 22-minutes after exiting the bus.
READ THE ENTIRE REPORT:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/pdfs/face201913.pdf