Authorities say Marcus Fischer was getting "extremely close" to two Minneapolis police officers with a knife raised over his head when they shot him in a police interview room last winter, according to charges filed Friday.
The new counts against Fischer stem from the Dec. 18 episode at police headquarters in which Fischer stabbed himself multiple times, then was shot when he refused to drop the knife.
The additional four felony charges — two counts each of first-degree assault against a peace officer and second-degree assault — were filed against Fischer, 19, by Washington County prosecutors.
The incident unfolded when Fischer was arrested at his job at the Mall of America last December on suspicion of a shooting and taken to police headquarters for questioning. He was searched twice before being brought into an interview room, but officers didn't find the 4-inch folding knife that was tucked into his waistband, according to authorities.
After answering some questions from Sgts. Kelly O'Rourke and Gene Suker, Fischer reportedly asked the detectives for some water. Left unattended, authorities say Fischer pulled the knife out and started cutting and stabbing himself, first in the neck and then the chest, with "blood strewn throughout the room," BCA special agent Chris Olson wrote in a court filing.
Officers tried to negotiate with Fischer before unsuccessfully using a Taser to subdue him when he ignored their commands to put the weapon down. After several minutes, Suker and Jerome Carey, a downtown patrolman, fired their sidearms at Fischer, who by then was" extremely close to them" and holding the knife over his head, prosecutors said.
He was struck twice, according to authorities. He was later hospitalized with gunshot wounds as well as the self-inflicted injuries, including a "gaping" neck wound from where he tried "sawing" at his throat, authorities said.
None of the officers involved were injured.
