'Sorely Missed': 20-Year Veteran Of South St. Paul Police Dies Unexpectedly

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A South St. Paul police officer died unexpectedly Tuesday evening, leaving behind a wife and two young children.

According to police, Sgt. Cory Slifko, a well-respected 20-year veteran of the police department, died while off-duty.

"Our entire police department family is in mourning and our hearts go out to his entire family. His presence within our department and our community as a whole will be sorely missed," police said.

Police say "we all face challenges in our life at one point or another" and encourage anyone who is struggling to text MN to 741741 to be connected to the MN Crisis Text Line.

The Rogers Police Department suffered a similar loss Tuesday evening, when one of its officers, Blake Neumann, died unexpectedly while off-duty. He left behind a fiancé and two young children.