APPLETON, Wis. — Residents of a Wisconsin city are saying goodbye to a firefighter killed in the line of duty.
A procession honoring Mitch Lundgaard wound through Appleton on Monday, starting at a funeral home and ending at Appleton Alliance Church, where a visitation was planned. Lundgaard will be taken back to the funeral home following the 6 p.m. service, which is not open to the public.
Lundgaard’s family released a statement saying the “outpouring of support” from the community in the past week “has been astonishing to us.”
The husband and father of three was killed in the crossfire of a gunfight between police and a Wausau man who also died in the exchange of gunfire.
Lundgaard was the first Appleton firefighter in 86 years to die in the line of duty.
We are asking members of the community to refrain from coming to the church for the visitation.
— City of Appleton (@cityofappleton) May 20, 2019
The building is at capacity and there will not be time for everyone to get through.
Uniformed personnel en route are invited to continue to the church. #appleton #Lundgaardfuneral pic.twitter.com/Kz9fOw7r5m