Man shot through door by Duluth police gets $600,000 settlement

DULUTH — A man who was shot through his apartment door by an officer from the Duluth Police Department will receive a settlement from the City of Duluth.

Jared Fyle was hit with a single bullet near his right shoulder blade after a call about a domestic dispute at his Kingsley Heights apartment in September 2020. The police officer, Tyler Leibfried, was charged with two felonies tied to the shooting, but acquitted in April 2022 by a jury in St. Louis County District Court. Fyle later filed a civil-rights lawsuit in federal court against the city and Leibfried, saying his rights were violated by the use of excessive force and that the city wasn’t properly training its officers.

The city council approved a $600,000 settlement as part of its consent agenda during Monday’s meeting. There was little discussion about it during last week’s agenda-setting session, as City Attorney Jessica Fralich said she couldn’t publicly discuss ongoing litigation.

“Officer Tyler Leibfried made a serious mistake on September 12, 2020,” Andrew Noel, an attorney from Robins Kaplan law firm, said in a statement. “No one claimed that Jared Fyle was involved in any criminal activity that day. Mr. Fyle looks forward to finally putting this incident behind him.”

Leibfried was among the officers who responded to a call about a domestic dispute at the downtown complex. Fyle’s then-girlfriend, who officers met outside, wanted an escort back inside to get her belongings. As they neared Fyle’s third-floor apartment, the then-23-year-old clicked the deadbolt and used a hatchet to further pound the door shut.

Fyle told investigators at the time that he didn’t know anyone was on the other side of the door.

Fyle testified that he then heard someone yell “shots fired” from the hallway. He dropped to the floor as bullets came through his door. He was hit by one of the six shots. A piece of the bullet remains lodged in his body, he said during the trial.

Leibfried, who had a year earlier been on the scene of a fatal police shooting, told investigators that he thought the pounding sound from the hatchet was gunfire.

Leibfried is currently a sworn officer in Duluth, a spokeswoman for the department said Tuesday. He was initially hired in 2016, but was taken “off duty indefinitely” after the shooting. He returned to work in May 2023. He is believed to be the first Duluth police officer to be charged with a crime after an on-duty shooting.