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Minnesota officer dies 11 days after being shot in head

A Lake City, Minn., police officer died Friday night, 11 days after he was critically wounded by a gunshot while answering a domestic disturbance call, the Mayo Clinic said.
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This Jan. 27, 2009 photo provided by the Lake City, Minn., police shows Officer Shawn Schneider, 32, who died Friday after being critically wounded Dec. 19 in a shooting while responding to a domestic situation.AP
/ Source: msnbc.com staff and news service reports

A Lake City, Minn., police officer died Friday night, 11 days after he was critically wounded by a gunshot while answering a domestic disturbance call, the Mayo Clinic said.

The family of Officer Shawn Schneider, 32, thanked "everyone for their overwhelming support and well wishes during this difficult time," the hospital said.

Schneider was shot in the head on Dec. 19, NBC station KARE reported.

After a daylong standoff with the suspected shooter, Alan John Sylte Jr., officers found the 25-year-old dead inside the home. He had taken his own life, police said.

A 17-year-old girl who escaped from the house told police she had broken up with Sylte the previous week. Court documents say Sylte sent the girl 282 messages over the weekend before fighting with her at her family's house in Lake City the day of the shooting.

A Wisconsin National Guard spokeswoman said Sylte, from Hager City, Wis., was an Iraq war veteran who was in the process of being discharged from the guard for failing to report to duty.

Schneider had been transported to the Mayo Clinic's St. Marys Hospital in Rochester where he remained in critical condition until Friday night, KARE said.

Schneider, a nine-year veteran of the Lake City police department, leaves behind a wife and three young children.