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Suspect Details Emerge In Cold Spring Officer Shooting

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(credit: CBS)

Reporting Rachel Slavik

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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.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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