ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A special gift was sent to the North County Police Cooperative headquarters in St. Louis this week, from the historic Major League Baseball organization – New York Yankees. Flowers and a short note with the "deepest sympathy" of the baseball team were sent as condolences after officer Michael Langsdorf was killed in the line of duty, Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees organization has kept a tradition of sending flowers to the families and colleagues of fallen officers for decades, at the request of former owner George Steinbrenner. A similar package was sent to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department after retired St. Louis Police Sgt. Ralph Harper, who was killed in October.
The flowers were sent with a card to the "entire Langsdorf family and the family of the North County Police Cooperative."
It's a tradition that began in the 1980s, when Steinbrenner started a foundation to help families of fallen New York officers. But more recently, they've sent flowers anytime they hear of an officer killed in the line of duty.
You can read more in this New York Times article.