By Tim Harlow
Star Tribune
LAKEVILLE, Minn. 鈥� Phones have been ringing off the hook and presses running continuously at a Lakeville printing company trying to keep up with demand for decals pledging support for the Burnsville police and fire departments.
Print Lab Wraps has been flooded with requests from people wanting to buy the decals featuring emblems of two agencies that lost first responders morning when they were shot while answering a domestic violence call in Burnsville.
[EARLIER: FF/medic in Minn. shooting died trying to save wounded officer]
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy, nuts,鈥� said Print Lab Wraps General Manager Dennis Swanson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 people close [to Burnsville ] and far away reaching out asking how to get the decal. It鈥檚 impressive how many people want to show support.鈥�
It all started Sunday night when Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) CEO Luther Wynder heard that medic Adam Finseth, 40, and police officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 27, had been killed in the line of duty. With the transit agency鈥檚 headquarters in Burnsville, Wynder said he interacts with the department鈥檚 officers regularly. He wanted to do something.
Wynder contacted Schmitty & Sons, the bus company that provides drivers and mechanics to MVTA. That led to the idea for the decals. Overnight, Print Lab Wraps staff printed 100 decals and bus company crews worked through the night to affix them to every MVTA bus that pulled out Monday morning, Wynder said.
鈥淚t was a collaborative effort,鈥� said Kathryn Forbord, director of Operations for Schmitty and Sons. 鈥淪upporting law enforcement, that is at the heart of what we are doing.鈥�
An image of the decals hit social media and 鈥渋t snowballed from there,鈥� Swanson said. People, including members of law enforcement, and even youth hockey teams who wanted to put the decals on their helmets, began calling wondering how to get them.
鈥淭he phones have not stopped ringing. Nonstop is an understatement,鈥� said Dana Bungert, who works in Print Lab Wrap鈥檚 operations. The company has only 12 employees. 鈥淲e can only answer the phone so many times a day.鈥�
She said it鈥檚 best to email the firm at info@printlabwraps.com.
The company is giving decals away free to first responders, and asking others to contribute $1 to cover materials and labor costs.
鈥淲e are trying to keep this as cheap as possible,鈥� Swanson said. 鈥淲e are not making any profit.鈥�
The firm has also printed about 1,000 decals to be given away at Burnsville City Hall.
Wynder said MVTA also gave 12 decals to Metro Transit to display on Orange Line buses, which run from Burnsville to downtown Minneapolis.
鈥淭he MVTA is here to support Burnsville Fire and Police,鈥� Wynder said. 鈥淭his was a crisis that will affect our city for a long time to come. Our buses keep going through the community, and we鈥檙e showing our support and keeping them in our memory.鈥�
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