Tampa Police officers shared their memories of Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen on Wednesday. Those who knew him best say he would put himself in harm’s way to save others. 

“He was selfless. He was courageous. That was him,” Matthew Drumsta said.

Authorities say Officer Madsen was killed early Tuesday morning when he drove his vehicle into the path of a wrong-way driver to save others.

“If you know Jesse, you know that’s exactly what he did – didn’t think about it. Just did it,” said Michael Strom.

Both Drumsta and Strom knew Officer Madsen well. Strom was hired at the same time as Madsen. They were partners for a time and good friends. Drumsta was trained by Officer Madsen when he was first hired. He chose him to be his son’s godfather.

“As soon as I knew I was having a son I knew Jesse, he’s it. I wanted him to be the mentor and protector of my son,” Drumsta said.

They describe Officer Madsen as a family man who loved his three children and his wife Danyelle, who is a police officer at the University of South Florida.

“He would do anything for his wife and kids,” Strom said.

And they say Officer Madsen would do anything for anyone in this community. 

“Didn’t matter who you were and what you were going through. He’d be there for you,”  Drumsta said. 

Officer Madsen was given the Life Saving Award seven times during his career at TPD. One of those incidents was in 2012, when he held pressure on a shooting victim’s wound until help arrived. Another was in 2017, when the helped perform CPR on a man who was unresponsive until he started breathing again.

Officer Madsen’s funeral will take place on March 16 at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.

Visitation will be at 10 a.m.

The funeral will follow at 11 a.m and a committal service will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.