Larry Shannon Obituary

Larry Shannon attended Fort Knox High School in Fort Knox, KY. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Larry Shannon.

Graduation Year	Class of 1967
Date of Passing	Mar 26, 2016
About	Longtime Menlo Park police detective Larry Shannon dies at 67 Larry Shannon investigated homicides, arrested Chowchilla kidnapper by Kate Bradshaw / Almanac Larry Shannon, right, of the Menlo Park Police Department, and Gary Lockman in front of a vehicle driven by the Chowchilla kidnapping suspect, taken at the back lot of the old Menlo Park Police Department building at 801 Laurel St. in Menlo Park. (Photo courtesy of Burke Bruttig.) Larry Shannon, who arrested one of the Chowchilla kidnappers, was involved in shooting incidents, and investigated homicides as a detective during a 29-year career with the Menlo Park Police Department, died March 26 in Auburn, California, at age 67. A service was held for Sgt. Shannon on April 4 at Sierra Foothills Funeral Services in Auburn. His ex-wife Marilyn Shannon did not give the cause of his death but said he wasn't in good health. He had two daughters, two granddaughters and two brothers, she said. Larry Shannon, 2003. (Photo courtesy of Robert Wood.) Sgt. Shannon was on the Menlo Park police force from 1972 to 2001, retiring as a detective sergeant. Sixteen of those years were as a detective, supervising detective or on the county's narcotics task force, the department said. He also worked undercover. In 1976, Officer Shannon nabbed one of the Chowchilla kidnappers, according to Burke Bruttig, an officer who served with Mr. Shannon. Three young men from Atherton and Portola Valley had kidnapped a bus full of children in Chowchilla and had attempted to bury them alive at a quarry near Livermore, holding them for a $5 million ransom. Ultimately the children and the bus driver escaped. As one of the kidnappers, James Schoenfeld, was returning to Atherton, the car passed through Menlo Park, and Officer Shannon with another officer apprehended the driver, Mr. Bruttig said. Mr. Bruttig told about another Officer Shannon police exploit: While attempting to arrest a suspect who had stabbed another officer in the arm, Officer Shannon narrowly avoided being stabbed in the heart by falling backward onto the ground. Officer Shannon then drew his gun and shot the approaching man. "According to Larry, the suspect stopped in his tracks, bleeding profusely, and said to officer Shannon, "Nice shot!" – and collapsed," Mr. Bruttig said. The suspect survived and ultimately went to prison after a trial, Mr. Bruttig said. Sgt. Shannon was well-liked by his colleagues and provided "exceptional" public safety service, both in patrol and detective work, according to Mr. Bruttig. He was the lead negotiator for the police management association in talks with the city of Menlo Park on salary and benefits for police managers. "He was a good and dedicated officer, held everyone to (a) high standard, and everyone remembers his great sense of humor," said Jeff Keegan, who worked with Sgt. Shannon for 10 years. "Larry was a really interesting creature," said Wally Joseph, a longtime friend whose children attended Oak Knoll School with Mr. Shannon's. "While everybody else was arresting somebody or interrogating people, he'd take a guy out, buy him a steak, and (the guy) would tell him everything he needed to know," Mr. Joseph said. "He didn't discriminate at all between old, young, smart or dumb. He talked the same to everybody." The two men became scuba diving buddies, he said. They received their diving certificates at the same time and would go diving in Monterey. "Larry's had every hobby in the book," Mr. Joseph said, including fishing, crossbow hunting and taxidermy. He also liked to play golf. About 10 former members of the Menlo Park Police Department have retired to the Placer County area, said Mr. Bruttig, and they still meet up about quarterly for breakfast or lunch.