Community mourns sudden passing of SPD Cpl. Michael Hutter
October 22, 2025
By Reader Staff
Sandpoint Police Corporal Michael Hutter is being remembered for his years of service after suddenly passing away Oct. 16 amid treatment for unspecified health concerns at Kootenai Health, in Coeur d’Alene.
According to a Facebook post Oct. 17 from the Sandpoint Police Department, “He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and the many lives he touched throughout his years of service. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones during this difficult time.”
A decades-long veteran of law enforcement, Hutter started his career with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and joined SPD in 1990. He moved to the Ponderay Police Department in 1997, where he served as Pondery police chief until retiring in 2016 and was rehired by SPD.
SPD Cpl. Michael Hutter. Courtesy photo
Hutter was shot in the leg and chest in 2018, when he and a fellow officer were both wounded during an exchange of gunfire with a suspect during a call for service in Ridley Village. That year, Hutter joined three other local law enforcement officers — all wounded in the line of duty — as joint grand marshals in the Lions Club Fourth of July parade.
“Mike served this community with honor, compassion and unwavering dedication, both as an officer for the Sandpoint Police Department and as the former chief of police in Ponderay,” SPD Chief Corey Coon wrote in the Facebook post, which has garnered hundreds of comments from community members honoring Hutter for his long service.
“He was more than a fellow officer; he was a friend, a mentor and someone who cared deeply about the people he served,” Coon wrote. “His kindness, steady presence and commitment to doing what is right have made a lasting impact on everyone who knew him.”
Coon added that the department would share more information at a later date about how members of the community can assist Hutter’s family as they cope with the sudden loss.
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