Thomas Elroy Buntrock, 43, was chief of the Mequon Police Department and a 19-year veteran when a robbery and hostage situation on December 2, 1979, cost him his life. After an armed suspect, identified as 19-year-old Milwaukee resident Anthony Tracy Johnson, fled a service-station robbery and took two civilians hostage, Buntrock offered himself in exchange and was taken instead. Johnson forced Buntrock into the rear of the chief’s squad car and the vehicle was stopped near a police roadblock.

A struggle inside the squad car produced several gunshots. An Ozaukee County investigation later concluded that Johnson had been fatally shot with his own .38-caliber handgun during the struggle, and that Mequon Patrolman Paul Schauer, believing Johnson was firing at Buntrock, fired a .270-caliber rifle through the rear window. The district attorney found Schauer’s bullet struck and fatally wounded Buntrock, making the chief’s death the result of friendly fire during an attempt to rescue him. Johnson died at the scene and could not be prosecuted for the robbery and hostage taking. Buntrock’s death is recorded as a line-of-duty death.