​Fargo finds ways to help after police officer shooting

The city of Fargo was rocked to its core last week when a police standoff following a domestic violence call resulted in the death of police officer Jason Moszer. While the shock hasn’t subsided, the community has sought various ways in the days following to heal and help. Support has been shown for the police officer with vigils and a fund was started for Officer Moszer’s wife and children. A funeral will be held later this month at Scheels Arena.

This week activists started a fund for the surviving family involved in the domestic violence 911 call. People can donate gift cards and non-perishable food items as well as dollars online as directed by friends and family of the Schumacher’s.

Fargo Police Chief David Todd has been dealing with grief stricken police officers suffering from the first fallen officer in the city since 1882. First and foremost, he wanted to help the family of Officer Moszer deal with the shooting as well as the officers in his department. But once he did that, he also wanted to make sure to give his blessing towards helping the other family affected as well.

“I kind of reached a point where I felt like it was a good time to speak out about asking the community to step forward and help complete the mission of protecting and serving the original domestic violence victims that called us. One way of thinking about it is, Officer Moszer was responding to the domestic violence victims, to help them and protect them. He wasn’t able to complete that mission because he was killed and perhaps the community can help us complete that mission so that response to that mission wasn’t in vain. So I’d like to see if others can help pick up those pieces for us,” Chief Todd told HPR.

Chief Todd said domestic violence calls are a frequent occurrence for the Fargo Police Department and he does make efforts towards creating community awareness on the subject.

“We do deal with a lot of domestic violence calls so that is a regular part of our day in answering those calls,” Chief Todd replied, “Sheriff Laney and I try to provide education to our community about domestic violence and we do domestic violence community service ads trying to get the word out that it’s everybody’s business and that people should call us if they hear or see something so that we can intervene so it’s an important part of our work.”

Women’s rights advocate Jen Hoy was one of the people who decided to reach out to the Schumacher family about seeing what their needs were following the incident and was involved in creating the fund. While she had always wanted to help people affected by domestic violence but never had, she wants to make clear this fund is all about helping the Schumacher family and not about creating domestic violence awareness.

“We just decided it was the right thing to do to help the Schumacher family rebuild their lives,“ Hoy said.

Chief Todd hasn’t had time to search whether the Schumacher’s address was the source for many domestic violence calls in the past but he wasn’t familiar with it. He said the ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation would be handling the question of motive in the case in their investigation of the sequence of events, taking over because there was an officer death involved.

Hoy told us of several ways to help the Schumacher either in person or online.

“The Plymouth Congressional Church of Christ located at 901 Broadway in Fargo is accepting donations of gift cards and non-perishable food items Monday through Friday from 10 am to 2 pm and Wednesday from 5:30 to 8 pm,” she said “If folks go to Impactgiveback.org and click on donations, you should be able to search for the Schumacher family benefit.”

Hoy also wanted to clarify that it is just another way to help in the aftermath of what happened and everyone involved hopes people will help Officer Moszer’s family as well.

“We just hope that everybody recognizes that there are a lot of people that have been affected by the tragedy and we want people to realize we are united in solidarity and we are North Dakota strong. We are not trying to take anything away from Officer Moszer and of course we respect him and the sacrifice he and his family made,” she remarked.

Chief Todd said the family of Officer Moszer is still having a tough time dealing with the death but the Police Department is helping them get through the process.

“The Moszer family is of course devastated as any family would be at the loss of a husband, a father, a son, a brother. They’re going through that grieving process of that incredible loss and we as a police department our standing with them and trying to help them through that. We’ll continue to be there for them,” Todd said.

The Police Department has also been taken aback by the community response to the incident and show of support for them and their officers.

“If anything good can come out of this in pulling our community closer together, I hope that happens. We’re extremely grateful for the community’s support and the way they’ve reached out to us. They’ve brought us food. I’ve received countless letters and cards and emails and offers to do things for the family. The flow of support has been amazing and I can’t say thank you enough to the community,” Todd replied.

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

To donate online to either the Moszer or Schumacher family funds, go impactgiveback.org and click on donations and search for the names.

Also, you can donate to the Schumacher family fund at Plymouth Congressional Church of Christ, 901 Broadway in Fargo, Monday through Friday 10 am to 2 pm and Wednesday from 5:30 to 8 pm.

The funeral for Officer Moszer will be at 1 pm on Monday, February 22 at Scheels Arena 5225 31st Ave South in Fargo. It is open to the public.