Former La Crosse police officer killed by man on terror watchlist

A possible targeted killing of a former La Crosse police officer.  

Scott Von Lanken, 56, was apparently shot in the back of the head in downtown Denver on Tuesday while working as a private security guard for the city’s transit system. 

Apparently, he was giving directions to two women on the street when he was shot and killed by 37-year-old, Joshua Cummings, who has appeared on a federal terror watchlist.  

Cummings is a former Army soldier from Texas.

Von Lanken was in his security uniform at the time of the shooting.  

He worked for Allied Universal, who supplies security services for Regional Transportation District in Denver.

The father of two, and former church pastor worked for a few years as a La Crosse police officer.  He left the force in 1987. 

His wife, Shellie, told News9 in Denver that her husband would be forgiving.

“I know very well, my husband, if he was here right now, he would tell us, and tell his daughters to forgive this man,” she said. “ I would like to know why (the shooter) would take somebody who is so loved and so needed in the family. I would like to know why he would do this. And if you could understand the pain that he caused, how somebody’s life could just be changed overnight—Never take for granted, never, the people you love because you don’t know if you’re going to see them tomorrow.”

Scott Von Lanken was a contracted security officer for the Denver area’s Regional Transportation District employed by Allied Universal.

Shellie told KUSA-TV in Denver that her husband of 35 years worked at least 65 hours a week to support her and their 32-year-old twin daughters, one of whom is disabled.

“It was unbelievable that any human being could even work what he was working,” she said. “He just worked his heart out. He would tell me, ‘If I could keep working, I would get another job just so I could provide for my family.'”