Iraq veteran kills another serving as a police officer then turned gun on himself

Fond du Lac shooter had given up hope, his mother says

Written by
Colleen Kottke

All Jimmy Cruckson wanted was a perfect life, but he threw that away Sunday morning when something inside him snapped and he took the life of a Fond du Lac Police Department officer, critically injured another and then turned the gun on himself.

The 30-year-old Army veteran spent long hours trying to turn his house at 24 S. Lincoln Ave. into a home for himself and his live-in girlfriend and their two children from previous relationships.

Despite his efforts, Cruckson’s relationship with his 24-year-old girl friend was one that friends and family described as “volatile” and “toxic.” A relationship that brought police to the two-story home on Fond du Lac’s west side on more than one occasion in the past year.

Surita said her son, an Army reservist, was home on leave following a short drill on the West Coast. Cruckson had served in Iraq with the U.S. Army and had joined the Reserves after his enlistment with the Army was up.

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Fond du Lac shooter had given up hope, his mother says

Slain officer was Army veteran, gave '110 percent'
Written by
Russell Plummer
A Fond du Lac Police Department officer shot and killed Sunday morning was born to protect, a family member says.

Officer Craig Birkholz, 28, joined the Army after graduating from Kenosha Tremper High School.

He served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq with an Army military unit, said his aunt, Patty Brown of Kenosha.

He suffered a shoulder injury in Afghanistan when a Humvee he was driving struck a roadside bomb, she said.

“He always gave 110 percent and he’s always achieved his goals,” Brown said. “He was an exceptional young man.

“He always put everyone else first,” she added.
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Slain officer was Army veteran