Shawn Ogden was within a block of where Lake City police officer Shawn Schneider was shot and gravely wounded during a domestic call on Dec. 19.
On that day, Ogden was driving his semitrailer truck when a law-enforcement officer asked him to use it to block a main street. Ogden agreed to help.
On Saturday, he lent his support again — this time to the family Schneider left behind. Schneider died Dec. 30 at Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester.
"It's sad but nice to use my musical powers for good," Ogden said on Saturday.
The band led off a fundraiser at Mayo Civic Center during which musical acts performed well into the evening. It was one of several memorials and fundraisers for Schneider and his family. Hundreds attended the fundraiser, which raised about $10,000.
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Ogden also played one of the last sets with a different band.
He said he knew Schneider because when he performed at local bars, the officer often walked through the bar after closing. That gave them a chance to talk.
"He was a good guy," he said. "I always liked him; (he was) good at his job."
Lake City is a small town, and like most small towns, it prides itself on nothing bad happening.
"It's a nice fairy tale," he said. Bad things do happen. But when they do, the town sticks together.
In a way, the shooting ripped the town's social fabric. The outpouring of support and financial help helps mend the tear, he said.
The event was for "the closure for the people that will come and having a good time honoring his memory."
But it wasn't only Lake City people who came.
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Betty Kolb, of Plainview, came with her grandson, Devin Foster, 11, of Winona, because her son, Logan Kolb, was playing in the Key Lime Special band and because she knows some of the Schneider family.
It's a community loss, she said. She came "for the community and for the family," she said.
Lori Colwill, of Rochester, heard about the benefit on Facebook; a friend said a relative had been shot and died. She heard about the bands and decided to come to listen.
"It's a great cause, good music and a great way to take care of each other," she said.
And former U.S. Rep. Tim Penny came with a band, The Pumper, the Peddler and the Politician, which does only charity gigs.
"I think the public reacts to this on many levels," Penny said.
First, Lake City is a small town, and many people come from small towns, Penny said. Second, Schneider was a public servant who died in the line of duty. Finally, he was only 32 and had a wife and three children.
"We all share in some sadness of that tragedy," Penny said.
