DPS Leader Says Fallen North Iowa Police Officer Died a Hero

A former Nora Springs Police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty Wednesday (09.130 night.

Iowa D-C-I assistant director, Mitch Mortvedt, says 33-year-old Kevin Cram was trying to arrest a man on a warrant around 8 p-m while on duty as an officer with the Algona Police Department.

Cram was taken to Kossuth Regional Health Center, where he died. Mortvedt says 43-year-old  Kyle Ricke was arrested after a “Blue Alert” was sent out to surrounding law enforcement, indicating a police officer had been shot.

Ricke was located and arrested near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota shortly before midnight Wednesday. He has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in Kossuth County and will be extradited at a later date.  

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens says Cram died a hero.

Bayens adds that Cram was murdered by a coward and that while “the law enforcement community in Kossuth County is hurting, they are not broken; they are shaken but their resolve remains strong.” 

Cram was a 10 year veteran of the Iowa law enforcement, serving on the Nora Springs Police Department from 2013 to 2015 before joining the Algona Police Department.