A Hero Remembered
By Justice Taylor
Posted May 31, 2016
Steve Sandberg was a well respected officer who had been with the force for 24 years before the tragic events that led to his death. Sandberg was guarding a suspect at the St. Cloud hospital when the suspect bolted towards him and somehow got ahold of Sandberg’s weapon. While wrestling with the suspect in attempt to get his weapon back, he was shot.
The man that shot Steven Sandberg was being hospitalized because of a suicide attempt after being caught for kidnapping and terrorizing his wife along with other felony charges. Danny Hammond, who was from Aitkin County, shot Sandberg on Sunday morning. He was then tasered to be subdued and died shortly after the shooting.
Sandberg was a loving husband to Kristi and a father to Cassie, who looked up to and respected her father. Losing a family member or a loved one is hard and talking at their funeral might be even worse. When Cassie went up to talk during her father’s funeral, she told the crowd that her father inspired her to have the strength to get through it.
Sandberg was very well known around the community and was involved with numerous organizations around town. With living in a smaller community you have relations to almost everyone. A lot of people knew and were fond of Deputy Sandberg and will miss him terribly.
The community got together for a tribute and a candlelight vigil to honor all that Deputy Sandberg has done. There were people lining up in the streets to show their love and support for the family. There were 3,000 people that attended Deputy Sandberg’s funeral, including many cops that came from all over the United States. Due to not having a building with enough room to hold that big of a group, the funeral was organized and held at Aitkin High School. People who attended the funeral were either in the New Gym, Old Gym, Auditorium, or Cafeteria. Deputy Sandberg will be missed by his wife and daughter, friends and other family, and by numerous members of the Aitkin County community.