LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Two days before a Dakota County deputy shot and killed an armed suspect on Italy Avenue, the Lakeville Police Department had responded to the same home for reports of volatile behavior by 36-year-old Kent Kruger, according to a police report.
Kruger opened fire on law enforcement "within seconds" of them entering his home on the morning of Friday, Feb. 28, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office said, prompting a veteran sergeant named Scott Durdall to return fire. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner reported that Kruger died of "multiple gunshot wounds." Officers and deputies were acting on an emergency order of protection to remove Kruger from the home; he was also wanted on an active arrest warrant for assault on a peace officer.
A police report requested and obtained by KARE 11 now sheds new light on the events leading up to Kruger's death, detailing an event on Feb. 26 that involved Kruger and Lakeville Police. According to the report, officers responded to a domestic call that evening from Kruger's mother, who told police her son threw water at her and "had destroyed the house." When officers attempted to speak with Kruger, he became "belligerent" and demanded officers leave his property, according to the report.
Kruger's mom "reiterated she was worried for Kent about what he would do in the house and that she was worried about what he would end up doing if she stayed due to his mental health issues," the responding officer wrote. "Kent came out of the house finally but only continued to yell at officers for taking his dog."
Cindy Erickson, a neighbor across the street, corroborated that interaction in an interview with KARE 11: "He was outside yelling that he took his dog," she said. "And this went on for a good five minutes... and then it got quiet, and nothing else after that."
The Feb. 26 event ended without incident, but the responding officer told Kruger's mother to obtain an order of protection that could "start the eviction process." By the end of the week, officers and Dakota County deputies would attempt to serve that order when Kruger opened fire.
