03/10/2026
Thirty years ago as a young police officer, I sat in training as a plain, off-white Kevlar vest was passed around for all of us to look at. The vest was unremarkable except for the bullet hole in the front and the stains on the back side of it. The instructors told us about March 10, 1991, and the event that sent a shockwave through the Fairchild community and changed the lives of families forever.
Chief Pat McCready responded to a domestic disturbance at 126 North Front St #6. He knew the woman and children that lived there, and he knew the man that triggered the call for police. In addition to having had previous contacts with the family, the man was his neighbor.
Chief McCready was a smart and competent police officer. He already had served twenty years in the US Army. He knew his community. He was who you wanted to show up when you dialed 911.
The domestic disturbances are often emotional, as this one was when a rifle and desperation evolved it into a barricade situation. The kids were still at risk, and Chief McCready felt he knew how to talk to his neighbor to bring him back down so he could get the kids safe.
People under extreme emotional stress do not always act as you expect them to, and Chief Patrick Boden McCready was shot with the rifle inside the apartment. He made it outside and backup officers got him to an ambulance where he succumbed to his injury. The suspect later killed himself. Too many families ripped apart forever.
The lesson given to us that day as we looked at the bullet hole in the armor that was supposed to protect a fellow public servant is to remember training. As officers get experience and handle calls and problem solve with their community, and get to know the people themselves, they sometimes make choices that goes against what they’ve been trained because they have the confidence that they can do it their way. Remember your training.
In Chief McCready’s sacrifice, he lived on. I remembered him, and many, many times as a young deputy and seasoned officer I was at scenes and with people and situations where the events caused me to remember Fairchild Chief McCready, remember your training. I am confident Chief McCready has saved my life a time or two. I can remember one time making a simple arrest where the suspect badly wanted to get back to his car and under his seat. His body language changed, and something that many people wouldn’t think was a big deal was something that caused “Fairchild-remember your training” to flash in my head. I quickly got him into handcuffs, and when I searched under the driver’s seat he was trying to get back to I found a big folding Buck knife. When I got to the jail with him, I found out he had been involved in a homicide where he stabbed a guy to death. He wanted that knife with me. So thank you Chief McCready.
It has been with great honor that I later became a Police Chief for Fairchild. I got to meet a community that still remembers Pat, and misses him and what he was like as a Cop. I got to meet some of his family who also taught me things that left an impact on me. The pain from that day never truly goes away. But the legacy of a man is going to live forever. And it is with deep respect that I write this today to honor him. Chief Patrick Boden McCready, Badge #440, We have the watch now.
Chief Chad Halvorson #441
