COLD SPRING, Minn. (WCCO/AP) – Ryan Larson, the suspect in the shooting death of a Cold Spring police officer, is a 34-year-old in his second year at St. Cloud Technical and Community College.

Police say while Larson lived in the apartment above Winner’s Bar in Cold Spring.

Officer Tom Decker was a 6-year veteran before he died Thursday night after checking on Larson, who was thought to be suicidal. Decker was wearing a vest when he was shot twice, and killed.

For much of Friday, authorities focused their attention on a field not far from the shooting scene near Winner’s Bar. Both officers and K-9 units combed the empty parking lot before turning attention to the river.

Larson has been taken into custody and it appears that he does have a criminal history — nothing more than a couple traffic violations.

The autopsy report says Decker died from multiple gunshot wounds. Several guns were located during the search, too, investigators say.

‘Not A Monster’

A friend of Larson’s says he is “not a monster.”

Jeff Scoles Jr. of Sartell says Larson “was a normal person.” Scoles finds it hard to believe Larson is suspected of killing Decker.

Scoles owns a bar in Cold Spring. He says Larson lived the past two years in an apartment above the bar and was a bartender at Scoles’ other bar in Sartell.

Scoles says Larson was doing his homework at the Sartell bar Thursday and was in a “good mood” when he left.

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