State investigators have released police body camera video of Minneapolis officers shooting a young man being questioned in a police headquarters interrogation room.
Released police video shows officers shooting man with knife in Mpls. interrogation room
They repeatedly ask suspect to put down his knife.
June 22, 2018 at 12:58AM
The shooting occurred shortly after Marcus Fischer stabbed himself in the neck and turned the knife on the officers.
Fischer, 19, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty last month to assault for the Dec. 18 encounter and is serving a three-year-plus prison term.
An investigation into the officers' response determined that their actions were justified, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
The video released this week by the BCA shows the several minutes that officers implored Fischer to put down the knife.
By that time, he had already cut his neck while briefly left alone when officers went to get him a drink. The BCA also released interrogation room video of Fischer raising the knife to the right side of his neck, but the agency cut the filming at that point.
"Marcus, put the knife down and back away from the door," one officer is heard on the video yelling, "because we can't come in and save you until you put that knife down."
A stun gun is sought, but there isn't one in police headquarters, so an officer retrieves one from his car. One shot from the stun gun misses Fischer.
Police then are heard yelling repeatedly, "Drop the knife."
Fischer, his arms raised and neck bleeding, is then shot by Sgt. Gene Suker and officer Jerome Carey. The video has a blurred view of Fischer at this time.
Suker told investigators that Fischer went to the door still holding the knife. The video shows the young man appearing to approach the officers.
The interrogation room camera also captured the gunfire, but the BCA is not releasing that portion of the video.
Fischer was brought in for questioning as a suspect in the shooting of a man days earlier during a meeting about buying a gun. He pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to that offense.
To avoid conflicts of interest, Washington County prosecuted Fischer for his actions in the interrogation room.
County Attorney Pete Orput added that the BCA "did ask me for my opinion on the [officers'] use of force." Orput said he notified the BCA last week that the officers acted properly.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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