Respects & Prayers for Family

[DaveH]

Services Set for Chad Mechels, Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff Wed. | KSFY.com - Your Source for News, Sports, and Weather - Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 | Local News

Services Set for Chad Mechels, Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff Wed.

By KSFY Action News

Story Created: Mar 16, 2009 at 3:53 PM CDT

Story Updated: Mar 16, 2009 at 6:28 PM CDT

Funeral services for Chad Mechels will be held just two days before what would have been his 33rd birthday. Services will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse in Madison.

Governor Mike Rounds will order flags to be flown at half-staff on the day of the funeral. In a statement, Rounds said his sympathies and prayers go out to Mechel's family.

His full obituary is posted below

Chad Mechels

Chad Mechels, age 32, died at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls on March 15, 2009.

Chad Lee Mechels was born on March 20, 1976 at Sioux Falls, SD to Darwin and Sandra (Nesheim) Mechels. He married Jamie Martin at Madison on March 4, 1999. He is survived by his wife - Jamie and a daughter - Avery and son - Thomas all of Madison. His parents - Darwin and Sandra of Chancellor, SD and his grandparents - Luverne and Audrey Mechels of Sioux Falls and Melvin Nesheim of Hartford, SD. Two sisters - Chastity Mechels of Sioux Falls and Candra (Adam) Calhoon of Ft Hood, TX. his in laws - Dave and Twila Martin of Madison. He was preceded in death by his grandmother - Betty Nesheim.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse in Madison with Rev Verlyn Hanson and Rev Ben Bryant officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery.

He grew up in Chancellor graduating from Lennox High School in 1994 where he participated in cross country, track and worked for the Pep-A-Gram student news paper. He received a Bachelors degree from Dakota State University in 2001 and completed his SD Law Enforcement Academy graduating in 2005. He worked for the SD Departments of Corrections in Plankington and as a parole officer in Brookings before becoming deputy with the Lake County Sheriff Department in 2004 until 2008 when he was a deputy with Kingsbury Sheriff from April until October 2008 when he joined the Turner County Sheriff Department. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police Chapter 5, DAR Officers Association and the SD Umpires Association.

The family will be present at 7:00 PM on Tuesday at the Weiland Funeral Chapel Family request memorials be directed to the Chad Mechels Memorial fund which has been established at Wells Fargo Bank.

National briefs: Man, 19, fatally shoots sheriff's deputy | Nation | Star-Telegram.com

National briefs: Man, 19, fatally shoots sheriff's deputy

SOUTH DAKOTA — A sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot Sunday by a 19-year-old man in a farmhouse. The Turner County Sheriff’s Department said Chad Mechels, 33, was shot west of Marion. Ethan Johns of Marion surrendered later with a deer rifle and was being held in the Sioux Falls Jail, officials said. Marion is about 30 miles southwest of Sioux Falls. — The Associated Press

Mechels "Would Have Been a Great Teacher" | KSFY.com - Your Source for News, Sports, and Weather - Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 | Local News

Mechels "Would Have Been a Great Teacher"

By Chuck Harmer

Story Created: Mar 16, 2009 at 6:20 PM CDT

Story Updated: Mar 16, 2009 at 6:23 PM CDT

Dr. Judy Dittman is now the Dean of Education at Dakota State University where Chad went to College and graduated. Chad was a student in the health and physical education program where Judy taught many of his classes and supervised his student teaching in the spring of 2001.

she said that chad was quiet and reserved. "But I thought this is the kind of guy that I sure would want to teach my children because he was very enthusiastic with the kids and really cared about them and so in my mind was just the perfect guy for a teaching job."

Chad later switched from teaching to pursue a career in law enforcement where he served the state for 5 years.

"I remember seeing him downtown one day and he told me that he was going to move into law enforcement and I thought well I am sorry that we're losing him as a teacher but he sure will be good in that position as well."

A position that Judy says has a lot in common with teaching.

"Most of all he just cared about people and he wanted to do the right things. Those are exactly the kind of people that you want in both teaching and law enforcement."

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[DaveH]

News for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa

New Details In Deputy Shooting

Officials say he pulled the trigger and killed a sheriff's deputy. The 19-year old charged with murder faced a judge and courtroom of community members Monday in Parker. It appears the shooting near Marion began as an argument between the suspect and his girlfriend.

Nineteen-year-old Ethan Johns is charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing Turner County Deputy Chad Mechels as he responded to Johns' home Sunday morning. Johns faces a maximum penalty of a life sentence or the death penalty if found guilty.

An affidavit filed Monday gives us a better picture of what may have led up to the killing. Turner County dispatch received a call Sunday morning that Ethan Johns was threatening to kill himself. That's when Deputy Chad Mechels was sent to check on Johns' well being.

Then at 9:15 am, a person who identified himself as Ethan told 911 dispatchers that a cop had walked into his house and that he shot him. He said he knew it was a cop because "he started shooting back at me." But the papers don't say whether Mechels discharged his weapon.

Court papers go on to reveal Mechels was shot once in his right upper arm while in Johns' home. He was then shot a second time in the throat while sitting in his patrol vehicle. A third bullet was found lodged in his patrol car and investigators believe Johns may have shot a total of five times.

It appears it all started with a disagreement Johns had with his girlfriend during the overnight on Saturday. He was texting his girlfriend's sister when he found out the police were getting involved. That's when he texted her back, threatening shoot them if they came over.

After the shooting, Johns drove himself from Marion to Sioux Falls and left his car in a parking lot. His brother then took him to the Law Enforcement Center where he turned himself in.

[rottkeeper]

Prayers sent for Chad and family. Hopefully the dirtbag will fry.

[retsupt99]

Another fallen officer is bad news indeed...hopefully the responsible dirtbag will get the 'needle'...I hope that they have that...