Man who fired at Hennepin deputies in Minnetonka before his death was not subject of arrest warrant

The man who exchanged gunfire with Hennepin County deputies Wednesday during a firefight that left him dead and two deputies injured was not the subject of the arrest warrant officers were there to carry out.

Clint Hoyhtya, 28, was identified as the man who died during the shootout shortly before 11:30 a.m. when deputies arrived with the warrant at his home in the 13400 block of E. Crestwood Drive. But emergency dispatch audio and a law enforcement source confirm he was not named in the warrant.

The two deputies injured during the shootout are expected to survive. One was transported to the hospital with “very serious injuries,” Sheriff Dawanna Witt said. The other was treated for injuries from gunfire and released on-scene, she said.

Law enforcement leaders at the media briefing declined to provide many details about what happened, including what precipitated the shooting, who fired the first shots and whether the man described as an “armed individual” died from deputy gunfire or from his own weapon.

The warrant for a 34-year-old man’s arrest is one of at least three that remain active as of late Thursday afternoon. Two involve violating domestic abuse no-contact orders and another is for illegal weapons possession. The most recent of them was issued one day before the deputies descended on the Minnetonka home, according to court records. The Star Tribune is not naming the man because he has not been charged in connection with the shooting.

The same officials have yet to release the name of the man who died, but the Star Tribune confirmed his identity late Wednesday afternoon as Hoyhtya, who was described on dispatch audio as wearing body armor and having an “AK variant,” a reference to a high-powered firearm, next to his body following the gunfire.

“Suspect is down in the yard, he was firing at us in the end, giving him commands at this time,” according to the audio, which also relayed a lengthy scene in which Hoyhtya’s body remained in the yard until law enforcement could determine with robots and cameras that no one else was in the home.

Thomas Hoyhtya, the man’s father who owns the home, initially called his son’s death a “suicide by cop.” However, he called the Star Tribune on Thursday morning and said “police shot the wrong guy. ... They kicked in the door, he was in the back and probably playing video games. It was his day off.”

Thomas Hoyhtya explained that his sister was living in the house without his permission in late 2021 once their mother moved into a senior care facility, and the sister allowed others to reside there as well.

He said the subject of the warrant was among “four squatters” who were invited in, and as court records confirm, “I evicted them the next summer. [The officers] should have known he wasn’t there.”

Over emergency dispatch audio, an officer said the “white suspect [is] down on the ground,” referring to Clint Hoyhtya.

That dispatch was soon followed by another: “The warrant says they were looking for a Black male. The male down is a white male, so we’re just kind of trying to sort out if there’s still a suspect out, just to let you know.”

In the meantime, the BCA continues to lead the investigation into the shooting. Agency spokeswoman Bonney Bowman said she’ll “be able to issue an update likely early next week.”

The gunfire comes two months after the fatal shooting of two Burnsville police officers and a medic who responded after an hours-long standoff following a domestic abuse call. In that case, a gunman had barricaded himself inside the home with a woman and seven children. He died after turning his weapon on himself.

As details of Wednesday’s shooting were still emerging, Gov. Tim Walz called it “another horrific situation” of a Minnesota law enforcement agent being injured in the line of duty.

Walz said the incident “on the horrific heels of what happened in Burnsville with the loss of our three first responders” makes it “crystal clear” that state leaders need to continue to put money into public safety so that law enforcement agencies can “continue to do what they need to do to prevent these.”

Star Tribune staff writers, Abby Simons, Andy Mannix and Briana Bierschbach contributed to this report.