HASTINGS, Minn. — Editor's note: The above video originally aired on Oct. 10, 2021.
Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced Wednesday that a Ramsey County sheriff's deputy was legally justified in using deadly force against a man last fall.
Sergeant Donald Rindal fatally hit Troy Engstrom with his squad car last September after the 48-year-old Engstrom fired a gun at approaching officers in Mounds View, according to Keena's summary of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's (BCA) investigative file.
Her ruling was based on interviews with witnesses, law enforcement officers and body camera footage from the BCA investigation.
Keena concluded that "it was objectively reasonable for Sergeant Rindal to believe Mr. Engstrom posed a deadly threat to him" -- another member of law enforcement and to the public.
On Sept. 22, 2021, around 10:40 a.m., Ramsey County Sheriff's deputies assisted Mounds View police as they responded to the report of a felony domestic assault involving a gun at the AmericInn by Wyndham on the 2200 block of Mounds View Boulevard.
According to court documents Engstrom fled the area before law enforcement officials arrived, but officials say witnesses and the victim of the domestic assault were able to provide information to deputies and police to help them locate Engstrom.
Authorities say they spotted Engstrom walking in the area of the 5200 block of Pinewood Court in Mounds View. It was then they say Engstrom fired his weapon at officers and was fatally struck by the squad car.