Deputies 'completely justified' in fatally shooting man with knife in Otsego, county attorney rules

Sheriff's deputies were "completely justified" when they fatally shot a young man who they said was threatening them with a knife in an Otsego neighborhood this past summer, the Wright County attorney announced Monday.

Jordyn J. Hansen, 21, was fatally wounded Aug. 7 at a home in the 12300 block of NE. 72nd Court, where he lived with an aunt and uncle who said their nephew had mental health challenges.

County Attorney Brian Lutes released a memorandum outlining his findings based on a review of a 312-page report by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), law enforcement squad videos, photographs, interviews with Hansen's family and the deputies involved, and other investigative material.

"It is my opinion that the use of deadly force by the officers involved was completely justified and authorized under Minnesota law," said the memo, which was sent to the family, Sheriff Sean Deringer and the BCA. "No criminal charges are appropriate against the officers. No criminal prosecution will be sought against the officers who discharged their firearms."

However, Hansen's aunt Sara Wroblewski contended in a detailed written account released to the Star Tribune on the day after the incident that law enforcement was lax while in her home, missed opportunities to detain him and allowed him to get hold of a knife. Messages were left Monday with Wroblewski seeking her response to the county attorney's determination.

Elaborating on his conclusion, Lutes wrote in his memo that "Hansen disobeyed every order and command given to him by officers [and] intentionally initiated deadly force confrontations with Deputy [Mark] Voss and Deputy [Leland] Wilkinson by charging at the deputies while brandishing a knife in a threatening manner."

In response to Hansen, Lutes continued, "Deputy Wilkinson and Sgt. [Jeffrey] McMackins fired at Jordyn Hansen only after [he] charged after Deputy Wilkinson with his knife raised in a threatening manner, getting within feet of attacking Deputy Wilkinson."

In their interviews with the BCA, McMackins and Wilkinson "clearly articulated with great specificity a threat of death or great bodily harm that was reasonably likely to occur unless addressed by them without unreasonable delay." Also, use of a Taser in order to subdue Hansen "had no effect," the memo read.

Other county attorneys in the Twin Cities area in recent years have chosen to send fatal police use of force cases to counterparts elsewhere in the state or to the state Attorney General's Office in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

Lutes said he kept the case because, "I view it as my responsibility as county attorney to make the determination. Also, when the primary BCA agent delivered the file to me, the agent indicated it was straightforward."

Lutes' memo discloses the most detailed account yet of the events leading up to Hansen's death:

Sara and John Wroblewski were told by Hansen's sister that he said he was going to Faribault to kill people.

John Wroblewski saw Hansen in his bedroom, and he "looked like a zombie, and his eyes looked like the devil." Hansen squared up his body to his uncle's, prompting John Wroblewski to yell to his wife to call the police. In the call, she also asked for an ambulance.

Hansen tried to jump out of the upstairs bedroom window before police arrived, but his uncle pulled him back in.

After the first deputies were in the home, Hansen ran downstairs to the kitchen, grabbed a steak knife with a 6-inch blade and dashed into the garage.

John Wroblewski spotted Hansen in the backyard. He ran across a neighbor's yard, and that's when the Wroblewskis heard the gunfire. Hansen was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital by emergency medical responders, and he died there soon afterward.

"Sara was frustrated that deputies did not handcuff [Hansen] and escort him to an ambulance," the county attorney wrote.

Court records in Rice County show that Hansen had a history of mental health difficulties dating back roughly four years to when he lived in Faribault and included attempts of suicide, delusions that his life was being threatened, hearing voices, belief that his mind was being read, and extreme alcohol and illicit drug abuse.

Courts twice ordered him civilly committed for treatment of social anxiety disorder and depression, with his most recent commitment being extended in March for six months and active at the time of his death.