Officer Anderson requested back up from Plymouth and Orono police, but he went in the apartment building alone. As he walked into the lobby, he was shot three times in the chest.

Mrs. Johnson ran to the Goodyear store to report the shooting and George fled out one door as police entered through another., George then went into city hall, two and a half blocks away, where he shot Kathleen Miklethun, 37, and maintenance worker, Thomas Schleich, 25, in the leg. Steven Larson, who was standing at a glass window buying a license when the shooting started, jumped through the glass window to escape and suffered several cuts.

Johnson then walked a block and a half to the post office on Indian Mound Street and Minnetonka Avenue. According to a witness who had just left the post office, several squad cars pulled up in front of the post office. Officer Earl Hatcher, who was one of the officers, was leaning over the roof of his car with his gun pointed at the building when the witness saw Hatcher grab his head with both hands and go down. He then got up and another officer crawled over to help him. Hatcher was hit in the head by a bullet fragment that deflected off the roof of his car.

Inside the post office, Johnson ordered the clerk at gunpoint to open the door, which he did. Johnson then walked to where three more clerks were working. With one gun in a holster, another gun in his hand, and a box of ammunition in his other hand, Johnson ordered the clerks to the back office and  had them line up against the back wall. Johnson then asked for a phone and was overheard asking, "Is this the Wayzata Police Department?" Another employee came upstairs and Johnson ordered him to lock the back doors. When the clerk went over to the door, walked out and shut the door behind him, Johnson stated, "I guess he split." He then ordered the rest of the employees to leave the building. As they left, they  heard one gunshot. Paul Mercer, a postal supervisor, went back to see if the postmaster had gotten out of the building. As Mercer opened the door, he saw Johnson in the postmaster's chair with his head slumped forward and blood on his chest. He had a revolver in his hand and the phone cord over his shoulder. Mercer shut the door and left the building, sure that Johnson was dead.

By this time, 200 officers, four SWAT teams and the FBI had arrived on the scene. At 3:15 p.m. a police dog was sent in to search the building. At 4:19 p.m., it was announced that Johnson was dead. He had shot himself with Officer Anderson's gun.

Officer Anderson was pronounced dead at 11:55 a.m. at North Memorial Medical Center. Officer Anderson died on his 36th birthday. He was the second ranking officer on the six-man department and had come to Wayzata in 1981 after serving 12 years with the Minnetonka Police Department. He was survived by his fiancée, Eunice Swanson, three sons, Bill 18, Tim 14, and Brian 11, and Eunice's daughter, Tammy 17. His funeral was held on Friday, September 3 at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Wayzata.

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Memorial message from: Officer Richard Grates, Metro Transit PD

As the son of a retired Minneapolis Police officer, and an officer myself, I recognize many names on the list of those that have fallen. I am surprised that there is not more to their story/legacy next to their names.

I recalled a few Minneapolis incidents as I grew up, but I will always remember when Sergeant James Anderson of the Wayzata Police Department was killed in the line of duty.

On August 21, 1982, I was a student at Widsten Elementary School just up the street from where Sergeant Anderson was killed. I believe he was killed at a disturbance or domestic call at an apartment complex. I vividly remember the school being locked down, helicopters landing on the playground, and the profound sadness I felt when I heard what happened. I may be wrong, but I believe Sergeant Anderson had a child attending the school I was locked down in. My thoughts quickly went to wondering if my own father was safe on that day.

I have been a police officer for twelve years and currently serve the metro area as a Metro Transit police officer.

I have always remembered August 21, 1982, and will always remember the memory of Sergeant Anderson.