Former hockey teammates who also became cops remember fallen comrade

Syracuse, NY — They played hockey together while studying at Le Moyne College. Later, they served together as officers in the Syracuse Police Department.

“We’ve been together, I won’t say inseparable, but really, really close, all these years,” said Grant Prudhomme, who played Le Moyne club hockey with Forrest Gilbert and Michael Jensen and served alongside both in the city police.

Prudhomme and Gilbert took time Friday to remember their friend, Jensen, as they prepared for his funeral today. Jensen, 29, was killed, along with Onondaga County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Hoosock, 37, in a shootout on Sunday in Salina in which the suspect also died. (Get details about Jensen’s funeral here.)

Their relationship started at Le Moyne, when Jensen and Prudhomme joined the hockey team in their freshman year. Gilbert was in the same graduating class, 2017, but didn’t start hockey until he was a junior.

“Jensen and I were already good friends, and when Forrest came along, he fit right in, mostly because Jensen was so welcoming,” Prudhomme said. “After that, we did everything together.”

Asked which of the three was the best hockey player, Prudhomme and Gilbert answered immediately and in unison: “Mike.”

In their senior year, they all took the exam required for a police career at the same time. Prudhomme joined the city police right away and Gilbert followed two years later.

Jensen had stayed at Le Moyne to earn a master’s degree in business in 2018. He then worked as an accountant, first at Bankers Healthcare in Syracuse and then at Turning Stone casino in Verona, where he earned a promotion after just one year.

The three friends continued to hang out together, with Prudhomme and Gilbert living with Jensen at separate times in the years following graduation.

“We always got together, going to the bar, getting something to eat,” Prudhomme said. “Just like when we were in college, we were always getting together.”

Prudhomme and Gilbert said they sensed that Jensen wanted to make a change in career, but weren’t sure when he’d do it. They both suspect that he actually scored higher on that police exam than they had, so they figured he might follow them into law enforcement.

“I kept saying, ‘Dude, if you want to do it, then do it, go back and take the test again,” Gilbert said.

But the decision took time.

“He had a really good job at Bankers Healthcare, then he left that out of the blue,” Prudhomme said. “Then he goes to Turning Stone, where I think he also did bartending and maybe dealing at one point.”

When Jensen announced he was taking the exam again, and planning to go to the police academy, it was not a great surprise to his friends. He considered both the Rome police and fire departments, as well as Syracuse police department.

“Jensen’s not the kind of guy who’s going to sit at a desk,” Prudhomme said. “He was active, he wanted to be moving.”

He was also known for his outgoing, fun-loving personality.

“He had to be in a position where he could meet and interact with people,” Gilbert said.

And he wanted to be back with his friends. Prudhomme and Gilbert believe that’s one reason he chose the Syracuse police.

On the Syracuse force, the three friends were all assigned to road patrol, but worked entirely different shifts and never ended up as partners. Jensen also had some special duties, such as serving on the Destiny USA detail on bike patrol, where he was adept at engaging with the public.

Wherever he served, Jensen stood out, Gilbert and Prudhomme said.

“Everyone remembers how funny he was,” Gilbert said. “He was only here (at the Syracuse police) for two years, but everyone already knew him.”

Prudhomme agreed. “I was here six years and he was only here two, but he knew people I’d never even met.”

Prudhomme said working as a colleague with Jensen was “like being back in college, where we’re all on the same team again. But it’s really like we were never apart.”

Prudhomme’s closeness with Jensen prompted him to volunteer to call Jensen’s parents Sunday with news of the shooting.

“I didn’t want them to hear from the medical examiner, or a sergeant, or someone like that,” Prudhomme said. “I wanted them to hear from someone they know.”

As part of their friendship, Jensen, Prudhomme and Gilbert kept up a three-way text thread, for sharing news and making plans together.

Jensen, in keeping with his playful character, would use the texts to poke fun at his friends.

“At any moment he would chime in with some dumb comment, making fun of us,” Prudhomme said. “He could never make a straight sentence without making a joke. He would chirp back at us all the time.”

Prudhomme said he plans to keep Jensen’s number on the text thread.

“I’ll expect him to chime in with something every moment,” he said. “That’s what he would do.”

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at [email protected]or follow him at NYup.comHon Twitter or Facebook.