Police video shows brief exchange of gunfire before wounded St. Paul officer fatally shoots man

Dashboard and body camera recordings released Tuesday show that an exchange of gunfire at a busy St. Paul intersection lasted mere seconds before a police officer who was wounded in the leg returned fire at the suspect, fatally striking him in the head.

St. Paul police released the video five days after the encounter Thursday at Cretin and Marshall avenues that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Brandon Daleshaun Keys, of Maplewood. Officer Michael Tschida was wounded after Keys fired within moments of Tschida's arrival at the scene, striking the officer in the leg before Tschida shot Keys.

Keys died the following morning at Regions Hospital. Tschida, a 14-year law enforcement veteran, was treated and released. He was placed on administrative leave — a standard practice for officers involved in use-of-force investigations by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

"In one moment we experienced an officer who was injured by gunfire in our community, and in that same moment we experienced an officer-involved shooting," Mayor Melvin Carter said. "Trust cannot be built, cannot be established, cannot be done in the dark. Which is why transparency is such a core function."

According to the BCA, the encounter unfolded just after 2 p.m., when a woman called 911 to report that a man she knows was violating a court order for protection against him. She said the man had a gun and was hitting her vehicle with his as she drove through St. Paul with a male passenger.

Transcript from the woman's 911 call suggest that Keys rammed the van she was driving with his blue Impala sedan and broke her van's windows. She told the dispatcher he was armed.

"… Oh, my god, he hit me again. Oh, he's gonna … kill me," transcript of the woman's call read.

The footage showed how the shooting unfolded as soon as Tschida arrived at the scene, exited the squad and ordered Keys to the ground. Keys ducked behind a vehicle and shot at Tschida, who then returned fire. Keys, who was struck, then dropped to the ground behind the vehicle.

"Shots fired," Tschida repeats over his police radio, taking cover behind his squad. "I'm hit."

The woman in question then parked her van and exited, screaming and running to Keys, who was on his back on the pavement.

"Tell 'em don't shoot, don't shoot, please," the woman told 911, according to call transcripts. "He's down. No, he don't have a gun. No please. Send an ambulance, please."

Tschida then yelled at the woman to step away from Keys, who cannot be seen from behind the vehicle.

Bystanders also urged the woman to step away from Keys as Tschida limped toward him, picked up the gun where it lay near his feet and moved it away. The footage then ended as multiple squads arrive to the scene.

"The events that transpired on [that day] will have a lasting effect in our community, particularly to our first responders, particularly to our officers, paramedics dispatchers and our professional staff," Police Chief Axel Henry said. "Healing is a process that takes time, patience and support. But we stand here as one community and we will do everything we can to support one another while the BCA completes this investigation."

Keys was due in Hennepin County District Court this week for a hearing in connection with a two-year order for protection secured in October by a 38-year-old woman who shares a 5-year-old child with him, according to court records. It's unclear whether she is the same woman involved in Thursday's incident.

She also had an order for protection taken out in 2018, when she alleged that Keys gave her a black eye and bruises. "[He] has a history of beating me physically," she wrote.

Keys has been convicted twice for misdemeanor domestic abuse, both times for violating an order for protection involving the same woman, court records show.

Tschida was one of four St. Paul police officers who fired their weapons in the killing of Jaffort Demont Smith on May 9, 2016.

Smith ignored orders to drop his weapon after he had shot and wounded a 49-year-old woman with him who eventually lost an eye. A grand jury ultimately issued no charges against the officers involved.

Last year, Smith's family sued the officers and the city of St. Paul in federal court, alleging Smith's civil rights were violated.

According to a Star Tribune database, at least 230 people have been killed in Minnesota during encounters with law enforcement.

Star Tribune staff writers Louis Krauss, Paul Walsh and Katie Galioto contributed to this report.