Body camera video shows Minnetonka man repeatedly shooting at deputies before dying in firefight

Law enforcement body-worn camera video released Wednesday afternoon shows a man with a high-powered rifle firing several volleys of gunfire at sheriff’s deputies last week in a Minnetonka neighborhood before they took cover, returned fire and killed him.

The firefight on April 10 left 28-year-old Clint Hoyhtya dead at the home where he lived, one deputy shot and wounded and another injured by shrapnel, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The deputies were there with a warrant to arrest a different man, who turned out to not be there when they knocked and identified themselves before the midday gun battle erupted in the 13400 block of E. Crestwood Drive, according to the BCA.

Body camera video from multiple deputies shows Christopher Heihn, Keith McNamara and Tyler Jacob knock at the door of the home for several minutes while announcing themselves, but no one answered.

“He looked at me,” Heihn said. “He came do the door and looked out the window.”

A man could be heard yelling from inside before deputies decided to surround the residence.

“One with a gun in the back!” a deputy called shortly before shots rang out from what emergency dispatch audio revealed was an “AK variant” and they took cover.

Several minutes pass before Hoyhtya opened the front door and fired at deputies, striking Heihn. The more than 47 minutes of video released never showed a clear view of Hoyhtya.

Hein ran from outside the neighboring home where he had taken cover. “I’m [expletive] shot!” he said as blood pooled on the grass from at least one wound to his right hand. A responding officer applied a tourniquet to Heihn and assisted him to cover while additional shots can be heard.

Footage from McNamara’s body camera shows him taking cover after the second time Hoyhtya fired. McNamara called for reinforcements while telling neighbors to take cover in their basements.

“We had an individual come to the back door, pointed a gun at me, fired off two shots,” he said.

The deputies stood under cover for several minutes until the volley of gunfire from Hoyhtya. Heihn can be heard exclaiming that he was shot while on the other side of the house. “Let’s move back to our cars,” McNamara said, and he retrieved a rifle before a third round of gunfire.

“You got a bloody nose, bud. Your rifle hit you,” Deputy Steven Tomasko, who took cover under fire next to McNamara, told him before they made another request for an armored vehicle.

“We have multiple officers pinned down!” Tomasko shouted.

“I took something in my leg here,” McNamara said while assessing his injuries. “He was shooting at my car. I fired multiple rounds at him.”

Gunfire then erupted another time in the apparent exchange that killed Hoyhtya.

“Suspect is down in the yard, he was firing at us again, we are giving him commands at this time,” McNamara said, while they radioed that he was wearing body armor.

Heihn, McNamara and the other deputies who opened fire, Jacob and Tomasko, are all on standard administrative leave as the investigation continues, the BCA said.

Law enforcement has since arrested the man named in the warrant. He was wanted in connection with violating two domestic abuse no-contact orders and another for illegal weapons possession. The most recent was issued one day before the deputies descended on the Minnetonka home, court records show. The Star Tribune is not naming the man because he is not charged in connection with the shooting.

BCA statistics show 47 aggravated assaults against police officers this year through February, similar to the past three years. Last year’s statistics show about 950 total assaults on officers, which is more than double 2019′s reported numbers.

Since 2021, the BCA has recorded more than 3,500 assaults on police officers. About 70% were simple punches, slaps or kicks, and a quarter were aggravated assaults. At least 140 assaults involved firearms. Police were responding to disturbance calls nearly a third of the time.