Roll of Honor
Incident
Reserve Officer Eugene Cousins suffered a fatal stroke while searching a ravine for a suspect following a vehicle pursuit.
Officer Cousins was riding with a full time officer when they attempted to stop an off-road motorcycle for several traffic violations. The motorcycle sped away and the rider drove towards a steep ravine, where the officers lost sight of the motorcycle.
After both officers searched on foot for a few minutes, Reserve Officer Cousins told the other officer to drive to the other side of the ravine and he would search it on foot and meet him on the other side. When Officer Cousins failed to reach the other side the officer began searching for him. The officer eventually located him unresponsive about 700 feet into the ravine.
Officer Cousins was transported to a local hospital where he died two days later.
Officer Cousins had served with the North Mankato Police Department for 14 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and five children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MN-37591915- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Reserve Officer Cousins gave the North Mankato Police Department 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the North Mankato community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Reserve Officer Cousins.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Reserve Officer Eugene L. Cousins is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MN, 9 of 293 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.1% of this state's fallen. That is 6 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Eugene L. Cousins's cause is highlighted.
How Eugene L. Cousins Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Eugene L. Cousins is highlighted in May.