WASECA, Minn. — Ten years have passed since the brutal home invasion that took the lives of Tracy Kruger and his teenage son, Alec, but their close-knit community continues to rally around the Kruger family.

At about 3 a.m. Feb. 3, 2007, an intruder walked into the Krugers’ rural home and shot 40-year-old Tracy, his wife, Hilary, and their 13-year-old son, Alec, who called 911 for help before he was killed.

Hilary, then 41, survived but was in critical condition and hospitalized for months. The couple’s younger son, 10-year-old Zak, was staying at a friend’s house that night.

“We get together to wrap our arms around our own, the people that are from our community and are hurt,” Waseca Mayor Roy Srp told the Mankato, Minnesota Free Press recently. He was also mayor at the time of the murders.

“We all feel blessed and we want to pass that along together, and hold them up and take care of them,” Srp said. “That’s what community is about.”

In the months following the shooting, Waseca surrounded the Kruger family. Thousands turned out for the memorial services. When summer came, residents threw an outdoor benefit at the county fairgrounds to raise money for the Krugers.

Police arrested Michael Zabawa, 24, the day after the break-in. He claimed the gun was accidentally fired while he was grappling with Tracy Kruger after Zabawa had entered the house. He had put his pickup in a ditch near the home.

In March 2009, Zabawa was tried and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He remains at the state prison in Stillwater.

“I could never describe the helplessness that I felt as my 13-year-old son, Alec, begged a 911 dispatcher to please come and help his family — only to be murdered right in front of me moments later,” Hilary Kruger said during a victim impact statement at Zabawa’s trial.

“And I could never describe the sadness that I now feel having to raise Zak without a father and brother.”

Zak has since grown up and graduated from high school in 2015.

Hilary declined a recent request for an interview. She said she preferred not to talk to the press, and that it made her feel anxious.

Hilary was able to leave the hospital in late 2007. The bullets damaged her internal organs and her arm was amputated.

She has since started her own Etsy shop, Hilary Kruger Designs, in which she sells greeting cards featuring scenic photos. She still lives at their family home just outside of Waseca.

Protective of Hilary, Srp and others in the community asked Hilary and Tracy’s brother, Tony Kruger, if it was OK for them to speak with the press. 

Every year since he lost his brother, if the weather allows, Tony hosts the annual Tracy and Alec Kruger Memorial Ice Drags on nearby Clear Lake in their memory. Tony and Tracy had started a construction company together a few years before Tracy’s death. Sports were a family affair, too.

In 2015, Zak raced for the first time at the event wearing his dad’s jacket.

This year’s Ice Drags on Feb. 25 will be even more special with a fireworks show, said Ken Borgmann, a family friend who coordinates the annual Sleigh and Cutter Festival in Waseca. Borgmann said the fireworks will be a tribute to the Kruger family.

“It will be a huge demonstration, I know that it’s comparable to the Fourth of July show,” Borgmann said.

Srp said Tony told him they are just hoping the weather is good this year for the races; it was canceled last year because of weather.

“It seems like thousands are out there. I don’t think anyone’s ever taken a head count,” Srp said of the ice drags. “But it’s always a celebration and the noise and smells and food grilling.

“We in Waseca like to celebrate life,” Srp said.

Narveson writes for the Mankato, Minnesota Free Press.