No charges against Brooklyn Center police in fatal shooting
No charges will be filed against Brooklyn Center police in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man last year, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Wednesday.
Prosecutors concluded that the two officers who fired six shots at Kobe Dimock-Heisler had a “reasonable fear” that two other officers and Dimock-Heisler’s grandmother were in danger, Freeman said in a news release.
Dimock-Heisler’s parents held a news conference Wednesday along with a citizens coalition formed to combat police violence to demand an independent prosecutor and investigation.
His mother, Amity Dimock-Heisler, said that her son was no threat, and that police escalated the situation and “ended up putting my son down like an animal.”
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"My son only had a history of hurting himself, nobody else,” she said. “And so when you hear them try to say something different, don't believe it."
Freeman said the four officers who responded used de-escalation tactics and seemed to have calmed Dimock-Heisler before he grabbed a knife and tried to stab one of the officers. Three officers fired their Tasers, without effect, before Dimock-Heisler was shot, Freeman said.
Two officers each fired their guns three times, striking Dimock-Heisler in the chest and neck.
The incident started when Dimock-Heisler, who had mental illness and was on the autism spectrum, went to a fast food restaurant with his grandfather in August 2019 and became angry when an employee got their order wrong. His grandfather told Dimock-Heisler to stop yelling. When they arrived home, Dimock-Heisler grabbed a knife and a hammer and told his grandfather to apologize for what he said at the restaurant. The grandfather called 911, according to the prosecutors' report.
MPR News reporter Matt Sepic contributed to this story.