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Gordon Brewster Bartel
- Jan. 15, 1983 -
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(374)
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Resided: |
Kodiak AK, USA
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Born: | Mar. 08, 1953 |
Fallen: | Jan. 15, 1983 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 29 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Kodiak Police Dept.
Kodiak, AK
USA |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 6/1981 |
FBI Class: | Homicide - Gun |
Weapon Class: | Firearm |
Badge: | 11 |
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Bio: Gordon Brewster Bartel, 29, was born on March 8, 1953, in Elmhurst, IL, (a suburb of Chicago) to Thomas and Polly Brewster Bartel. He was one four children (Thomas, Jr., Laura, Gordon, and John). The Bartel family moved to Geneva (just west of Chicago), IL, when Gordon was 3 and he was raised in that town graduating from Geneva Community H.S. on June 8, 1971. After H.S. Gordon attended classes and worked as a campus police officer at Waubonsee Community College from 1972-73 and then attended the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI.
Gordon Bartel, 23, became Chief of Police in Webberville, MI (near East Lansing, MI), in 1976 making him "one of Michigan's youngest police chiefs." He served in that position from 1976-1981. Webberville was a town of 1,600 people located just east of East Lansing, MI, and had a force of 4 officers (including the chief).
In 1981 Bartel traveled from MI to Kodiak, AK, to apply for job as a police officer. After his application was accepted in June of 1981 he moved his wife and children to Kodiak. He had been on the Kodiak force for 18 months at the time of his death.
In 1975, Gordon Bartel, 22, married Robinne Marold, 22, in Geneva, IL. Gordon and Robinne were both 1971 graduates of Geneva Community H.S. The couple had three children, Gordon B. Bartel, Jr. (born in 1977), Sarah Bartel (born in 1980), and Katherine Bartel (born in 1982). The couple divorced shortly before Gordon's death but Robinne remained in Kodiak with their three children until 1987 when she moved to Stillwater, MN. |
Survived by: |
Thomas B. Bartel - Father
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his son, Gordon B. Bartel, Jr., 5; his two daughters, Sarah, 2, and Katherine, 8 months, all of Kodiak; his step-mother, Betty Bartel, of Geneva, IL; his two brothers, Thomas B. Bartel, Jr., 40, of Ennis, TX, and John C. Bartel, 28, of Aspen, CO; his sister, Mrs. Wayne (Laura Bartel) Christianson, 36, of Belgrade, MT; a step-brother, Charles Mason, Jr., of Batavia, IL; a step-sister, Margaret McCabe of Downers Grove, IL; and his ex-wife, Robinne Bartel, 29, of Kodiak.
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Todd McCormick
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Location: |
Kodiak,
AK
USA
Sat. Jan. 15, 1983
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Summary: |
Gordon B. Bartel, 29, became the first and only police officer ever killed in the history of the Kodiak Police Dept. when he was shot and killed by a man he was citing for illegal camping in downtown Kodiak on Jan. 15, 1983. The assailant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. At 3:53AM on Saturday morning, Jan. 15, 1983, Officer Bartel, a 2-year veteran of the Kodiak force, was sent to a downtown harbor parking lot to check on a report of a man sleeping in a vehicle, a pick-up with a camper on top. The day before Bartel had issued a verbal warning to Todd McCormick, 41, that he could not sleep in his camper in the parking lot as it was a violation of a city ordinance which prohibited camping within the city limits.
When Bartel arrived at the parking lot he knocked on the Camper door and awoke McCormick and "engaged him in conversation about the illegal camping." Officer Michael Andre came up in his patrol car and asked Bartel if he needed any assistance. Bartel told Andre that he had been in contact with the subject before, "didn't expect any trouble," and that "everything was under control." Andre then left the scene and responded to another call.
Apparently McCormick became angry after Bartel took his driver's license and reached into his patrol car for his citation book. McCormick suddenly shot Bartel in the left side with a .22 caliber handgun. Bartel drew his weapon but was not able to "get a shot off" as the two "struggled in the snow." Bartel was able "to knock the gun away from McCormick in the struggle" but then McCormick "pulled a knife" and "slashed" Bartel "three or four times" during the struggle. Suffering from a gunshot and knife wounds, Bartel "collapsed" and fell to the ground.
Two Harbor officers in a nearby office, David Haynes and Ron Brooks, heard "the commotion" and went outside to see McCormick standing over Bartel who was lying face down on the pavement. As Haynes approached McCormick pointed the .357 magnum at him as Bartel said, "David, I've been shot."
Haynes and Brooks, who were unarmed, then fled back inside the office and reported by radio to the police station that an officer had been shot and "requested officer assistance and an ambulance." About the same time police had also received calls about the shooting from taxi-cab drivers parked nearby. McCormick heard radio transmissions about the struggle and used Stimson's police radio to respond and say, "Hello, I'm the party you're talking to. If you want him, come get him." He repeated that statement "a few times."
Haynes then got his own handgun from his office and returned to the parking lot where Bartel lay wounded. As he approached he saw McCormick "stepping out of the squad car, still holding a gun." He told McCormick to drop the gun and raise his hands. "After a moment's hesitation," McCormick did as he was told. Officer Andre arrived back at the scene at about the same time and participated in the arrest of McCormick. Haynes removed a knife from McCormick's left hand and handcuffed him. He was then taken to the Kodiak Police Dept. and booked for first-degree murder. Police determined that McCormick's .22 caliber pistol had been fired once. An ambulance arrived and Officers Haynes and Andre helped the Emergency Medical Technicians place Bartel on a stretcher for transport via the ambulance to the Kodiak Island Hospital. Bartel was pronounced dead at 4:55AM. The bullet had entered Bartel's body under the left armpit and struck his left lung, heart and right lung. Bartel had been wearing a bulletproof vest but he was not protected on his sides.
Steven Wallace, a rookie police officer on his first day on the job, was assigned to stand guard over Bartel's body at the morgue. By 1997 (14 years later) that young officer had become the District Attorney at Kodiak.
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Disposition: |
convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN ALASKA, 1867-1998
By Dr. Wm. Wilbanks FL International University
To be published by Turner Publications in early 1999
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