Former professor shot and killed

Published 10:14 am Tuesday, March 11, 2014

PICKWICK — A former Winona State University professor shot in his home in Winona County has died at a La Crosse, Wis., hospital.

Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand said 72-year-old Mickey Ellenbecker was apparently shot in the back of the head at his rural Pickwick home Saturday. The sheriff said one person has been detained in the shooting.

Brand told the authorities there were no signs of struggle. He said a .22-caliber revolver belonging to Ellenbecker and believed to by the weapon that killed him was recovered at the scene. An autopsy is planned.

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“We don’t know what we have, except it was not a suicide,” Brand said.

Ellenbecker was on the Winona State sociology and criminal justice faculty from 1976 to 2000.

Brand said he knew Ellenbecker because the victim had worked as a “We don’t know what we have, except it was not a suicide,” Brand said.

Ellenbecker was on the Winona State sociology and criminal justice faculty from 1976 to 2000.

Brand said he knew Ellenbecker because the victim had worked as a probation officer in the 1970s. He said Ellenbecker lived in Winona before moving to Pickwick where he raised horses.