When Forest Lake resident Shane Warnke heard that his longtime friend and co-worker Correctional Officer Joseph Gomm had been killed by an inmate at the Stillwater state prison July 18, he was shocked and saddened. His response to the tragedy — and the public response to his efforts — have resulted in an outpouring of financial support to the Gomm family.

Warnke and his fellow correctional officers always knew that they had signed up for a potentially risky job, but Gomm had been a stabilizing presence at the Department of Corrections for 16 years, Warnke said, and his death is believed to be first corrections officer killed in the line of duty in Minnesota.

  
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