Victim and officers in fatal police shooting in Robbinsdale ID'd
Updated: 3:58 p.m.
Authorities have identified the man shot and killed by police in Robbinsdale, Minn., last week as well as the officers involved in the fatal shooting.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office says Brian Eugene Andren, 47, of Ramsey, Minn., died of multiple gunshot wounds after a confrontation with officers Brian Sloat and John Tomczik Friday morning.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the two officers tried to pull over Andren, who was white, on a felony warrant from South Dakota. Robbinsdale police say the fatal confrontation followed a brief chase in a residential neighborhood of Robbinsdale.
Police say that officers responded with force after the man later identified as Andren was being aggressive towards them while wielding a knife, and that Tomczik tried to subdue Andren with a Taser before Sloat, a police sergeant with 17 years in the Robbinsdale department, fired his weapon.
The BCA says investigators recovered a knife at the scene, and the confrontation was captured on both body cameras and squad dash cameras. The agency also said a woman in Andren’s vehicle was not injured. Officers were uninjured as well.
The BCA's account is in line with what a witness told MPR news Friday afternoon before police released their initial statement. The witness said that police tried to pull the car over at a gas station, before it sped away, then he heard what sounded like a Taser and then gunshots.
Once the BCA has completed its investigation, the state agency will send the findings to the Anoka County Attorney’s Office to determine if charges against the officers are warranted.
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