Several communities are mourning after a western Wisconsin deputy was fatally shot while responding to a report of a drunk driver in a ditch Saturday night.

The St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that 29-year-old Deputy Kaitie Leising died after gunfire was exchanged with a suspected drunk driver, whom the Wisconsin Department of Justice identified as 34-year-old Jeremiah Johnson. He was later found dead in a nearby wooded area, while Leising died at the hospital, according to information released by state officials.

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Leising’s death has affected several communities. Law enforcement agencies from St. Croix County to Pennington County, South Dakota, where Leising previously served, and many others posted tributes to the 29-year-old on social media.

Deputy Leising’s career was just budding. She had been wearing a St. Croix County badge just since last year. Before that, she was beloved in the small Black Hills town of Hill City, South Dakota, according to her former colleagues at the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. 

“As an office, we’re hurting this week, deeply saddened by Kaitie’s passing,” Sheriff Brian Mueller shared in an interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Monday. 

“Here at the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, we’re a family. And we lost a family member.”

Sheriff Mueller hired Leising in 2020. After graduating from training, it was her first law enforcement job.

“It definitely was natural for her,” Mueller said. “Her ability to connect with individuals in a nonjudgmental way, understand their situation, and give them good advice and direction was pretty impactful.”

Pennington County Deputy James Waldrop was Leising’s partner; both contracted to cover Hill City for the Sheriff’s Office.

“I can say that working today, the community is kind of in shock. I’ve had several people come up to me and express their condolences,” Deputy Waldrop shared.

“Anybody that you talked to around there would know her as ‘Kaitie,’ even from the mayor on down.”

Waldrop remembered gestures big and small from Leising that made a tough job just a bit more manageable.

“She also traded shifts with me. And she worked a much less desirable shift for two months, so I could go to my son’s football games,” he said.

“Every day we put on this badge and uniform and go to work, that’s a possibility,” Mueller said, adding, “But you know what, when these senseless incidents happen over something as senseless as a DUI stop that now we’ve lost a co-worker, a mother, wife, a friend, a family member, it’s senseless, and it’s angering.”

“I tell people I’ve got the easiest job in the world until it’s not. Most of my days are very straightforward and minor issues in a small town in Hill City, but you always have to be ready for the time when that’s not the case,” Dep. Waldrop added. 

Sheriff Mueller said some of his staff plan to take the roughly 8-hour trip to St. Croix County to pay their respects in the coming days. Back in Hudson, Wisconsin, funeral arrangements are expected to be announced Tuesday afternoon.

The law enforcement community has already been grieving after three other law enforcement officers were killed in the past month — two in western Wisconsin and one in Minnesota.

The Wisconsin Professional Police Association says Leising is already the fourth officer to die in the line of duty this year in the state, the most in a single year since 2000.

Additionally, those in Glenwood City, Wis., and St. Croix County at large are dealing with the tragedy.

Glenwood City’s mayor, who is also a Wisconsin State Patrol sergeant, adorned the town with blue ribbons on Sunday in support of the sheriff’s office and also posted a message on social media asking people to “continue to be thoughtful of each other as we move forward through these difficult times.”

Leising’s squad car sat outside the sheriff’s office Sunday, it’s hood covered by flowers.

The sheriff’s office says the only way for people to currently donate is to drop off checks written to “Benefit of Deputy Leising” at any WESTconsin Credit Union branch or at the sheriff’s office.