St. Paul police officers who shot and killed man ID'd

St. Paul police released the names of the officers who shot and killed a man on the city's West Side early Thursday.

Police say two officers were confronted by a man authorities had received calls about, who threw rocks at them and ignored their orders to stop before one of the officers shot the man multiple times.

St. Paul police identified the officers involved Friday as Mark Grundhauser and Joseph Sandquist. Sandquist was the one who fired on the man, said St. Paul police spokesman Howie Padilla. The officers, who were not injured during the incident, are on standard leave.

According to police, about 6:45 a.m. Thursday, Grundhauser and Sandquist responded to the area near Plato Boulevard and Wabasha Street, across the Mississippi River from downtown, after authorities received a number of 911 calls from residents about a bloodied man who was breaking windows with a pipe and had also attacked a school bus.

Police say Grundhauser retreated when the man raised a rock believed to be larger than a baseball as he approached, but when the man went toward Sandquist, Sandquist fired multiple shots, fatally wounding the man.

As of Friday night, the man who had been killed had not been publicly identified by police, who were working with the Ramsey County medical examiner's office to identify him.

Grundhauser was certified as a parking enforcement officer with the department in 2008 before he became a police officer in 2012. During his time with the department, Grundhauser was orally reprimanded once for a preventable accident in 2010. He has also received four commendations including receiving the Chief's Award in 2012 for helping a suicidal man.

Sandquist joined the department as a property clerk in 2002 and was certified as a police officer in 2012. He received an oral reprimand that same year for a preventable accident. He has had nine commendations including letters of recognition from St. Paul police chiefs.

Thursday's incident was the second time St. Paul officers had fatally shot a suspect this month. On Aug. 3, Yee Vang, 20, of St. Paul, died shortly after exchanging gunfire with police following an alleged carjacking.

So far this year, there have been four officer-involved shootings in which St. Paul police have shot and injured people. Only the two this month have been fatal. Last year, there were five St. Paul officer-involved shootings with one being fatal. In 2012, there were eight officer-involved shootings with three being fatal.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495