Firefighter shot and killed during medical call in Appleton, Wisconsin

APPLETON, Wis,.(FOX 9) - A 14-year veteran of the Appleton, Wisconsin Fire Department was shot and killed while responding to a medical call Wednesday night at the Valley Transit Center. Three other people, including a police officer, were also shot.

Appleton police and firefighters responded to the transit center on the 100 block of E. Washington Street around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday for a routine medical call, police said. The shooting happened as they were processing the incident.

Thursday afternoon, the Appleton Fire Department identified the firefighter as Mitch Lundgaard. 

Appleton Fire says Lundgaard responded to the call for a medical emergency to a man on a bus. The man left the bus and started walking away from the first responders. While attending to the man, the incident "escalated into shots being fired." 

Lundgaard, an Appleton Police Officer and a female bystander were all hit by gunfire. The police officer was released from the hospital Friday and the female is in stable condition. The man was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries. 

Green Bay Police are investigating the incident. 

"I looked out the window and saw police flying," Appleton resident Michelle Berken told FOX 11. "I went to a different window; that's when one of the paramedics and ambulance was getting out and yelling at everyone to get out of the way."

A procession was held overnight in Milwaukee to bring the Appleton firefighter’s body to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. Firefighters lined the streets, as emergency vehicles escorted the body.

The firefighter’s body was returned to Appleton in a procession Thursday.

The procession route traveled east along College Avenue through downtown Appleton, turns north on Drew Street, past Fire Station 1, then west on Hancock Street and south on Oneida Street to Brettschneider-Trettin-Nickel Funeral Chapel. 

The Appleton Fire Department has also set up a donation page for Lungaard's family through the Friends of the Appleton Fire Department web page. The proceeds will go to Lundgaard's wife and three children. 

Donations can also be sent to Friends of the Appleton Fire Department, 700 N. Drew St. Appleton, WI, 54911.