BCA identifies officers involved in the fatal shooting of a Gaylord man
A state trooper, a St. James police officer and a Watonwan sheriff's sergeant tried to immobilize a 20-year-old man with Tasers after a chase on Thursday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said late Friday. The BCA said a preliminary investigation found Gilberto Salas of Gaylord advanced on one of the officers with a knife, who fatally shot him.
The officer was identified as St. James assistant chief Rochelle Hanson, an 18 year veteran, with 14 years in St. James. Hanson had a minor injury to her left hand, the BCA said.
Salas, who was transported to Mayo Clinic Health System hospital in St. James, died of multiple gunshot wounds according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner.
The BCA said Nicollet sheriff's deputies noticed at around 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday a vehicle that had been reported stolen in New Ulm and pursued it, along with other deputies from Blue Earth and Brown Counties, as well as police from New Ulm, North Mankato and the State Patrol. At times the speeds were clocked at 120 miles per hour through Nicollet and Blue Earth counties.
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After Salas was identified as the driver, the "search was called off for safety reasons," according to the BCA statement.
Soon after, Salas was seen driving through St. James, and another chase ensued, reaching 60 miles per hour on residential streets. When the vehicle ran into a snowbank, Salas ran leaving a woman behind. Authorities say she was not involved in the theft.
Sometime after 1 p.m., Hanson, Trooper Jacob Ruppert and Sgt. Barry Gulden of the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office followed Salas into a Casey's General Store.
Gulden fired his Taser and hit Salas, who "briefly shut himself in an office behind the service counter then emerged approximately two minutes later carrying a knife." When Salas would not drop the knife, Ruppert and Hanson fired their Tasers and hit the man again. After Salas moved toward Hanson, she fired her gun, the BCA said.
Store surveillance cameras and the camera on Ruppert's Taser recorded some of what happened, but not the actual shooting, the BCA said. There is no body camera or squad dash camera footage.
All three law enforcement officials are on standard leave. Ruppert has been with the Minnesota State Patrol for one year, but has a total of 11 years in law enforcement. Gulden has worked in the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office for 22 years.