Officer Larry D. Minard, Sr.

Officer Larry D. Minard, Sr.

Omaha Police Department, Nebraska

End of Watch Monday, August 17, 1970

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Larry D. Minard, Sr.

Officer Larry Minard was killed when booby-trapped briefcase with three sticks of dynamite exploded at a house at Ohio and North 28th Streets.

The briefcase was found on the floor of a vacant house and exploded as Officer Minard attempted to move it. Seven other officers were injured in the incident.

Three suspects, 15, 23, and 25, members of the Black Panthers, had lured the officers there with a 911 call. Two were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. On March 12, 2016, one was found dead in his cell at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. The other suspect remains in prison. Murder charges against the 15-year-old were dismissed when he turned states evidence and furnished a lot of information about the Black Panthers.

Officer Minard had served with the agency for seven years. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Bio

  • Age 29
  • Tour 7 years
  • Badge 248

Incident Details

  • Cause Bomb
  • Weapon Explosives; Bomb
  • Offender Sentenced to life

Most Recent Reflection

View all 47 Reflections

Officer Minard: As I work on a screenplay about your murder - a story that has never been told before in print or video - I had the pleasure of talking to your fellow officers there with you that terrible night, as well as several of your wonderful children. Every one of them suffers from painful emotions that haunt their dreams. For your family the pain of your death is as as raw today as it was that awful night.

It disgusts me that some in the community are blatantly lying about the guilt of the perpetrators in order to commute the surviving killer's prison sentence on humanitarian grounds because he has served a lengthy sentence. There were no humanitarian sentiments towards you, your fellow police officers, your family or the community when the cowardly perpetrators planted their booby-trapped suitcase and lured you and your brother officers into their deadly trap by a fake call of a woman in distress.

Even though fifty years have passed since your murder the community still cares and appreciates your sacrifice and that of your fellow officers and especially your family. May the Lord hold you and keep you. Rest in peace.

Captain Dean Olson
Douglas County Sheriff's Department, Omaha, NE

June 15, 2021

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