BCA: Undercover East Grand Forks officer shot and killed suspect in northwest Minnesota

An undercover officer from the East Grand Forks Police Department used his Taser before shooting his gun multiple times and killing a man inside a house in Polk County, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Friday in an update.

The BCA said it will not release the name of the officer — also a member of the multi-county, Pine-to-Prairie Drug Task Force — due to Minnesota law that protects the identities of undercover officers.

The update comes three days after Lucas P. Gilbertson, 42, was killed midday Tuesday in the area of East Grand Forks, in the 19100 block of SW. 445th Avenue.

According to the BCA, members of the task force went to the home just before noon after learning he was there. The officers surrounded the home, and at one point the undercover East Grand Forks officer went into the home and found Gilbertson.

The officer deployed his Taser and fired his gun at Gilbertson, striking him, the BCA said.

At some point earlier in the encounter, Gilbertson broke a window and threw a handgun outside of the house, the BCA alleges.

Officers provided emergency aid before Gilbertson was taken to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, where he later died of multiple gunshot wounds. No one else was injured in the incident.

Gilbertson's aunt, Jane Gilbertson, told the Star Tribune that the shooting was at his mother's house, and that he was shot four times in the back and front of his body.

The undercover officer who shot Gilbertson did not have a body-worn camera, the BCA said. Other officers did have body-worn cameras and there is police vehicle camera footage, but they did not capture the shooting, the BCA said. The Bureau is continuing to review that footage as the investigation continues.

Investigators found a handgun near the home outside, the BCA news release added.

Lucas Gilbertson's wife, Kari Rivard, said earlier this week that her husband "struggled with addiction … yet he remained a remarkably affectionate, charismatic and caring individual."

Rivard and Gilbertson's aunt were critical of his killing and said they want to ensure law enforcement is held accountable.

"Tragically, instead of the intended outcome [Tuesday], they succeeded in taking his life in front of his grieving mother," Rivard said.

A younger brother of Gilbertson's, Ian Romuld, said the two of them worked as brick masons together and were "very close. We fished, we hunted. We did it all."

He said they talked about a week ago, and "he seemed in really good spirits. I had a really good talk with him."

Court records show Gilbertson has been the subject of numerous arrest warrants for missing hearings stemming from a felony theft case. During one attempt in October to arrest Gilbertson at his home, he threw furniture at Sheriff James Tadman and escaped capture.

Star Tribune staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.