Mpls. police justified in fatal shooting of Dolal Idd, Dakota County attorney says

Three Minneapolis police officers were legally justified when they fatally shot Dolal Idd last year during a sting operation, the Dakota County Attorney's Office announced Friday.

The decision by Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena means officers Paul Huynh, Darcy Klund and Jason Schmitt will not be charged with killing Idd on Dec. 30 in the parking lot of a Holiday gas station at 36th Street and Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis.

Idd disobeyed police orders and fired at officers first, Keena wrote in her decision.

Idd's father, Bayle Gelle, and several activists held a news conference Friday afternoon outside Gov. Tim Walz's residence demanding that he assign the case to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison for a second review. They also called for the release of all videos in the case, a new independent body to investigate such cases instead of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and for charges against the officers who killed Idd and others.

"We will never stop this revolution — fighting for justice — and I will continue until my last breath," Gelle said.

About three dozen supporters watched as speakers said Black men and people of color are disproportionately denied justice when killed by police.

Idd, 23, was Somali-American. His last residence was his family's home in Eden Prairie.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that early in the case Idd's family asked the governor's office to refer its review to the attorney general. "He has failed to step in," Hussein said of Walz.

The governor's office declined to address the criticism or its role in such matters.

"The attorney general has not asked our office for this case," said Walz's spokeswoman Claire Lancaster.

John Stiles, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said the office has not been involved in the case. He declined to say whether it would ask to review the case. In conjunction with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, the attorney general successfully prosecuted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin this year in the murder of George Floyd.

Idd's killing was the first by Minneapolis police after Floyd's death on May 25, 2020.

Keena issued a 13-page memo supporting her decision, noting that the three officers provided consistent statements about Idd disobeying orders, attempting to flee in his vehicle and firing a gun at them first.

"Although I have concluded the use of deadly force was justified in this instance, any loss of life is a tragic occurrence and I wish to extend my personal condolences to the family of Dolal Idd for their great loss," Keena said in a written statement.

Minnesota law allows officers to use deadly force to protect officers or the public from death or great bodily harm, among other circumstances.

The Dakota County Attorney's Office reviewed the matter under an agreement among Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington county attorneys to ask an outside agency to review and prosecute such cases.

A search warrant affidavit filed in the case earlier this year said officers were investigating "a person selling firearms illegally and prohibited from possessing firearms" and used a confidential informant to set up the purchase of a MAC-10 semi-automatic pistol from Idd.

According to Keena's memo: Schmitt was parked in the gas station lot in an unmarked squad while seven other officers in two marked squad cars and one unmarked squad parked near an alley waiting for Idd.

Idd arrived about 6:13 p.m. with a female passenger and parked. Huynh entered the lot in a marked squad with the lights and siren activated and parked so that the squad's front bumper touched Idd's back bumper. Huynh and another officer exited the squad.

At the same time, Klund entered the lot from a different entrance with the lights on his unmarked squad activated. He parked near the rear passenger side of Idd's vehicle "in an attempt to box it in," the memo said. An officer who was with Klund exited the vehicle.

Idd tried to drive around the squads. Huynh approached Idd's vehicle with his gun pointed at the car. He ordered Idd to stop as Schmitt approached on foot with his gun pointed at Idd's vehicle.

Schmitt yelled, "Hands up!" Idd ignored the officers' orders and tried to flee, Keena wrote.

Another officer parked his marked squad near Huynh's squad to form a "V" to block Idd. Klund drove his squad into the driver's side of Idd's vehicle and pinned it against a truck that was parked in the lot.

"Within moments after being pinned in, Mr. Idd discharged a firearm through the driver's side window … striking the hood of the unmarked squad car driven by Sergeant Klund," Keena wrote.

Huynh, Klund and Schmitt fired back, the memo said. Idd died at the scene.

Idd's passenger, who was not hurt, told investigators that once police blocked him in, Idd said he didn't want to go to jail and fired a gun through his window, Keena's memo said.

Minneapolis police released body camera footage a day after Idd's death that appeared to show Idd firing a gun at police first. Police Chief Medaria Arradondo defended his officers.

Activists said Friday that the 27-second clip was insufficient and that the family and public should have access to all video footage.

"That is not accountability," activist Toussaint Morrison said of the video clip.

Idd was 3 when his family emigrated from Somalia. He graduated from Minnetonka High School in 2015 and briefly enrolled at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.

Klund, who has since retired, was a 33-year veteran of the department; Huynh was a 23-year veteran and Schmitt a six-year veteran.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib