Officer James Finn was killed when his horse fell at Lynhurst Avenue and University Avenue as he returned to the Prior Avenue substation. He stopped at a watering trough where he saw an acquaintance and leaned slightly to talk to him. At the same time his horse slipped on a smooth stone and Officer Finn was thrown forward with the horse on top of him. He struck his head on the curb in the fall. The horse then rolled onto him as it struggled to get back up. Officer Finn was taken to Cobb Sanitarium but never regained consciousness and succumbed to the injuries the following afternoon.

Officer Finn had been with the agency for eight years and was survived by his wife and twelve children. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St Paul Minnesota.