OAKDALE, Minn. — After almost six months exactly to the day after an Oakdale police officer and 25-year-old man exchanged gunfire during a police chase and subsequent standoff, the Washington County Attorney's Office announced the officer's actions were reasonable.
A memo to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the county attorney on Sept. 6 said prosecutors determined the officer was "justified in the use of deadly force."
No one was injured in the incident.
According to a statement from County Attorney Kevin Magnuson, an Oakdale officer returned fire from his squad after a man fired his weapon at the officer, striking the vehicle. Magnuson's report said the officer discharged one round through the windshield in the suspect's direction but did not hit him.
The incident happened back in March, as officers responded to an Oakdale parking lot on reports of a man threatening a woman with a gun. Authorities soon determined the suspect was prohibited from having contact with the woman through a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order.
When police arrived at the scene, they found a man inside a vehicle with the woman and her granddaughter. When police tried to surround them, prosecutors said the man took off at a high rate of speed.
The county attorney's statement said the suspect drove to the woman's house, pulled into the driveway and exited the vehicle without putting it into park. That's when he fired at the Oakdale officer, who was positioned behind the man's vehicle.
After the officer returned fire, the statement said the man ran into the home while the woman took her grandchild out of the vehicle and went to additional waiting officers.
A short time later, investigators said a window opened and the suspect fired three more shots. The Washington County SWAT team was subsequently called in to help.
The statement said the suspect engaged in an hours-long standoff with police before he was arrested and taken into custody unharmed.
Following the incident, the suspect was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, four counts of first-degree assault for using deadly force against peace officers and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The county attorney said those charges are still pending.
