Friends mourn the loss of Pfister following Friday’s highway incident; Minnesota agency continues investigation
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
Family and friends are mourning the loss of an Elkhorn woman following her death in an officer involved shooting last Friday in Eden Prairie, Minn.
The incident took place on Highway 212 near Dell Road in Eden Prairie following a pursuit, which began Friday morning in Carver County, Minn.
Dawn Pfister, 34, and her boyfriend Matthew Vincent Serbus, 36, both died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The incident
According to a news release from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), officers from the Chaska, Minn., Police Department, Carver County sheriff’s deputies, and Minnesota State Patrol troopers responded to reports around 7:30 a.m. of a vehicle driving erratically and at high speeds near Highway 212 and County Road 51 in Carver County.
Allegedly, the same vehicle fled the scene of a rear-end crash on Highway 212 and County Road 43. According to the release, Responding officers located the red Saab heading eastbound on Highway 212 and a pursuit ensued which reached speeds in excess of 80-90 miles per hour.
Shortly before 8 a.m., the release said the vehicle crashed along a wall on Highway 212 near Dell Road and the driver and passenger emerged from the vehicle. Shots were fired, however, the circumstances are under ongoing investigation by the BCA.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the identities of the two victims and that both died of multiple gunshot wounds. According to a report from Fox 9 in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the medical examiner ruled both deaths as a homicide and law enforcement officials have not confirmed who fired the shots that killed the two victims.
According to a report from Minnesota Public Radio, state patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske was asked several times about a possible hostage situation at a recent news conference, and said the relationship between Serbus and Pfister and why they were in the car together is under investigation. The report also states Roeske wouldn’t say whether one or both of the victims were armed at the time of the shooting.
As a result of the incident, a state trooper, two Chaska police officers and one sheriff’s deputy have been placed on administrative leave.
Mourning Pfister’s death
Following Pfister’s death, friends spoke highly of Pfister, a mother of two, and her caring and loving nature.
Close friend Christine Hinrichs described her as being an amazing person.
“She had a big heart, she’d give you the shirt off her back,” she said. “She’s such a caring amazing person…I’m heartbroken that she’s gone.”
Krystal Oudin, also a close friend and former roommate, said she was happy to be able to speak on what kind of person Pfister was.
“This woman was amazing,” she said, “the best friend you could ever ask for.”
“You could have the worst day ever and she could turn it around and make you look at it a different way and put a smile on your face.”
Oudin said Pfister had a strong personality, maintaining a smile, regardless of whatever she might be going through.
Well known and loved by many, Oudin said Pfister was a friend she could count on.
“You could call her at any hour and she would be there, with a listening ear or to come get you,” she said. “She would never take your friendship for granted.”
Oudin said when it comes to friends, Pfister was real and down to earth and that there weren’t many like her.
“It’s hard to find true friends, and she was one,” she said. “She was very honest and she didn’t care if you liked it or not, that’s the way that it is.
“She’s one of those that you could say, that was my best friend, and a best friend entitles all of those things. She was trustworthy, honest and loving.”
While memorial services are unclear at this point, a memorial fund to help with service costs has been set up, according to Oudin.
“She’s young, it’s very expensive to have services, and there’s nothing more that anybody wants more than of course to have a service for her to celebrate her life because she was so amazing,” she said.
Donations can be made to the memorial fund to C/O Frank and Jill Walsh for Dawn, through TCF Bank, 4222 Elm St., McHenry, Ill., 60050.
“I just hope that everyone can find peace with this,” Oudin said. “She’s going to be missed by many, she’s so greatly loved…her smile could brighten the room.”
