Authorities say police gunfire killed suicidal man during confrontation in Burnsville

It was police gunfire, and not a self-inflicted shot, that killed a man during a confrontation with officers outside a Burnsville apartment building this week, authorities said Wednesday.

Jamie J. Lewis, 48, who lived near where he was shot, was identified by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office as the man who was killed during the encounter Monday night along E. Cliff Road, just west of W. River Hills Drive.

Police said Lewis was threatening suicide and pointed a gun at officers. He died from "multiple gunshot wounds," the Hennepin County medical examiner's office said.

Lewis was a victim of homicide, eliminating the possibility that he killed himself, the examiner's office said.

It is the second officer-involved shooting in Burnsville this year. Prior to that incident in March, there had not been an officer-involved shooting resulting in death in Burnsville since 1981.

Officers were told about an hour before the confrontation that Lewis "had threatened suicide" and later left the building with a gun, a statement from police issued early Tuesday read.

Judith Tilsen, who had been a partner of Lewis' father, described Jamie Lewis as "very much a loner (who) suffered mental issues."

Tilsen, a judge on the Ramsey County District Court, said she hadn't seen Lewis for several years.

She said he "was never a violent guy. ... What you see is what you get. He was a regular guy who had his challenges. That's what I would say about the Jamie I knew."

Police on the ground and a trooper in a State Patrol helicopter helped one another track down Lewis to a tree line near the complex, the statement continued.

According to police scanner dispatches at the time, an officer said, "He's got a gun ... shots fired."

At one point after the shooting, one officer said, "He pointed the gun at us."

The police statement noted that "a Burnsville officer fired shots and the individual is deceased" but did not explicitly say the officer's gunfire killed Lewis.

Officers were wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting, the statement noted. No officers were harmed during the incident. One officer was placed on leave. His identity has yet to be released.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the shooting.

Earlier this year, officers shot and killed 38-year-old Map Kong after he allegedly brandished a knife when he was confronted by police in a McDonald's parking lot off Hwy. 13 and Washburn Avenue.

The officers involved in that killing were cleared by a grand jury of any wrongdoing.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482