Jerome (Jerry) Haaf

While working his traffic assignment thirty year veteran Officer JERRY HAAF decided to take a coffee break. Jerry went to the Pizza Shack, which is a favorite south side restaurant that police officers have frequented for many years. Jerry was seated in the restaurant with several other people. As he read the newspaper two cowardly punks from the street gang, “Vice Lords, “came from behind and fired several bullets into his back. The two murderers, Amwati McKenzie and Shannon Bowles, ran from the restaurant as Jerry lay on the floor mortally wounded calling for help on his portable radio. Another patron, Gerald Lubarski, who had been sitting at the same table, was wounded at the same time Jerry was executed.

After the murderers fled, retired Minneapolis Officer Robert Deschene and other patrons went to Jerry’s aid. Moments later police officers arrived and started administering first aid. Jerry was taken to the County Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

A multi-agency investigation into the murder of Officer JERRY HAAF was started. After months of work and hundreds of pages of statements and interviews, the cowards that killed Jerry were convicted and sent to prison.

You might be wondering, “Why Jerry”? The answer is simple. Jerry was killed because he was a police officer. These gang punks went to the Pizza Shack to kill a police officer and Jerry happened to be the one who was sitting there.

What Led Up to the Murder

Tension between the gangs and the police had been mounting. In the late 1970s the gangs arrived in Minneapolis. Instead of fighting the gang problem with good aggressive police work, the leaders of this city decided to embrace these disenfranchised youths. The city leaders were being duped by these gangsters. They in turn fed the local anti-police media and this just helped to legitimize these criminals. In the meantime, the leader of the Vice Lords, Sharif Willis, was convicted of murder but released from prison after serving only six years.

After his release, Willis was embraced by the city. His phony programs were then funded with city and donated corporate funds. Willis was able to sell a bogus program called “United for Peace” to the city. The Vice Lords were welcomed with open arms and the new sanctuary for these criminals became a place known as The City Inc. The street cops and most of the police department knew first hand what these criminals were up to, but the politicians and the media protected them. As time went on the gangsters realized that the police were still a thorn in their sides. The police would not back down or give up no matter how much intervention by city officials and the media occurred.

With city funding the Vice Lords came up with a new plan; they would use donated portable cellular phones to dispatch gang bangers to police calls. Once there they would try to incite a disturbance, then complain about police brutality. The media loved this action, as did the local self-appointed community leaders who would use this to get sympathy from the citizens, then rape the city for more money.

The day before Jerry was assassinated in cold blood, police officers working for the MTC bus company got caught in one of these bogus complaint schemes. A blind black man, who is a chronic problem for the bus drivers and the police, would not pay his bus fare. While MTC officers tried to deal with him, gangsters using their portable phones arrived at the scene and started trouble.

After the bus incident, word spread throughout the community that the Minneapolis police had beaten a blind black man on the bus. The media then played into the hysteria and things got stirred up. Members of the city council even jumped on the bandwagon. That night, the Chief of Police was at the local high school talking with residents. As the Chief addressed the crowd, the gangsters crashed the meeting and demanded to know about the bus incident. The Chief made an attempt to explain what happened. The gang punks, not wanting to hear the truth, left the school and purposely damaged several police cars that were parked outside the school.

Later after leaving the meeting, AC Ford, Shannon Bowles, Amwati McKenzie and Monterey Willis went to Sharif Willis’ house. While there AC Ford (second in command of the Vice Lords) said, “Let’s do it.” The plan was made and the order was given: a police officer in the Pizza Shack was going to die. The murderers were driven to the Shack in two separate cars. Just before they arrived, two plain clothes robbery investigators left the Shack. The two investigators had been sitting with JERRY HAAF having coffee. McKenzie and Bowles then entered the Pizza Shack and shot Officer JERRY HAAF in the back.

For their deed they should be HUNG, but that will not happen in Minnesota. Hopefully they will die in prison. Whatever happens to them, one thing is for sure – they will rot in hell for eternity.

Officer JERRY HAAF was 53 years of age. He had served in the Air Force and was going to retire in a few months after working 30 years as a Minneapolis police officer. Jerry was survived by his wife, Marilyn, a daughter, two sons, grandchildren, many family members and friends.

The funeral for Jerry was quite a sight. Hundreds of officers from the five-state area attended along with hundreds of citizens. The streets along the procession route were lined with people paying their respects to Jerry. At the cemetery the Bag Pipers played and Taps were sounded and a good man was laid to rest.

Rest in peace, Jerry.