Other police pay tribute to slain Bismarck officer

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Police officers and others from around the country paid tribute Sunday to a 32-year veteran of the Bismarck police force who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance.

Sgt. Steven Kenner, 56, is the first officer with the Bismarck police department to be killed in the line of duty. Steven G. Bannister, 52, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is expected to be charged Monday.

Bismarck Police Sgt. Dwight Offerman was among those to post messages on the Officer Down Memorial Page, an independent website that compiles the names of law enforcement officers from across the nation who have been killed on the job.

“I have known you for 31 of your 32 years, I am already missing your smile, your knowledge and your dedication to your fellow officers,” Offerman wrote. “Many things would not have happened without you pushing them on to completion. Rest in Peace, Steve, my brother in blue.”

Cpl. Jenny Lammers of the Grand Forks Police Department said in her post that Kenner came to the hospital and helped her family when her husband had a near-fatal motorcycle accident.

“When I heard the news this morning, my heart sunk,” Lammers wrote. “Steve was a wonderful person as well as fellow officer.”

Don Schmalzbaue, a retired Minnesota Highway Patrol officer, said he occasionally worked with Kenner in the field of forensic reconstruction.

“I enjoyed having him in class, speaking with him by phone, and just having coffee,” Schmalzbaue wrote.

One note came from a Seattle police detective who served with Kenner in the National Guard.

Police said Kenner and another officer responded about 11 p.m. Friday to a call about a man threatening a woman with a knife. The officers found Bannister sitting in a van outside a trailer home on the city's east side. As they approached the van, Bannister shot Kenner, police said. The other officer returned fire, wounding the Bannister.

Kenner was pronounced dead at a Bismarck hospital. Bannister was hospitalized for his wounds, which aren't believed to be life-threatening, police said.

Kenner, who has three children, was the first North Dakota officer to die on the job since 1996. Bismarck Mayor John Warford ordered flags in the city to be flown at half-staff until after his funeral, which has not been set.

Kenner will always be a hero, said Patrick Hill, who identified himself on the Officer Down Memorial Page as a former Bismarck resident.

“All that I can say is that while I was growing up there, he was on duty, watching over my family and my friends, and that is a debt that I can never repay him for,” Hill wrote.

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