Oakdale Police Department, Minnesota
End of Watch: Monday, October 25, 1982
Age: 43
Tour of Duty: 7 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: October 24, 1982
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Patrol Officer Warren Walton succumbed to gunshot wounds received the previous day when he attempted to stop a robbery at a hospital pharmacy.
He was moonlighting as a security guard at the Mounds Park Hospital when the pharmacist called him and told him there were three men in ski masks nearby. As Officer Walton proceeded to the scene the men held the pharmacist at gunpoint and demanded Class A narcotics. As the pharmacist led the men to the drugs the elevator doors sounded. As Officer Walton stepped out of the opening doors one of the men opened fire, striking him twice in the head.
Officer Walton was taken to a second hospital where he succumbed to his wounds the following day.
One suspect was apprehended a short time later and the other two were arrested two years later. All were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The gunman was released in 2015 but returned to prison after failing a drug test.
Officer Walton had been with the agency for seven years and was survived by his wife and five children.