St. Paul, Minnesota (Fox 9) – Thirty years ago this Monday, St. Paul experienced one of its darkest days. A man shot and killed two police officers, Ron Ryan Jr. and Tim Jones, as well as a K9 partner.

The search lasted for hours before officers arrested the man.

St. Paul’s is marking the anniversary with a special tribute. The families have had plenty of time to heal since August 26, 1994, but the wounds will never heal.

“You walk in the door and see him all upright, all straight and full of life and three-dimensional, four-dimensionally big,” said Ryan’s widow, Ann Kluender. “It’s hard, too hard, not to get emotional.”

Ryan followed in his father’s footsteps in the police force, and so Ryan’s job was a labor of love for Ron Sr.

“It was very special to see Big Ron pin Ronnie’s badge,” said Maria Ryan Hanggi. “It was an honor for my dad and he was extremely proud.”

A seemingly mundane task turned a father’s joy into sorrow.

Ryan wanted to check on a sleeping man in the parking lot of a church and was shot by him.

The same suspect killed off-duty police officer Jones and his canine partner Laser as they pursued him in a nearby neighborhood.

The city’s K9 training facility is now named in honor of Jones. The street where Ryan was killed bears his name.

But on days like these, families realize that they are never alone and that the officers’ sacrifices will always be remembered.

On Monday, the Eastern District Police Station in St. Paul was officially named after Ryan.

“A reflection of a successful career,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, whose father was a St. Paul police officer and was involved in the 1994 manhunt. “But they also remind us that the safety we care so much about cannot be taken for granted. That the community we care so much about comes at a price.”

After his death, Ryan’s family learned about the mornings he spent chatting with elderly ladies and the birthday cake he brought to cheer up a lonely child.

He loved his community, and 30 years after his death, they still do.

“Ronnie would love that, wouldn’t he?” Hanggi said. “He’d say ‘a building with my name and photos and pictures all over it.’ He’d totally love it.”

Fifteen St. Paul Police Department officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty, but only one since the tragedy in 1994.

Most of them were killed in the first half of the 20th century.

The man who killed Ryan, Jones and Laser is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.