BCA sends report on death of Archer Amorosi to Carver County Attorney

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Monday turned over its report on the death of Archer Amorosi to the Carver County Attorney's Office.

Sheriff's deputies shot and killed the 16-year-old Minnetonka High School lacrosse player in July, after his mother called 911 to report that her son was suicidal and acting violent and destructive.

County Attorney Mark Metz will decide whether to charge the two Carver County sheriff's deputies who shot their guns outside Amorosi's Chanhassen home that day.

The BCA said the deputies ordered Amorosi out of the house, but that he refused. They used a Taser and pepper spray on him. They shot him when he came out of the house carrying what the BCA said was a small hatchet and a BB gun that resembled a handgun.

The medical examiner ruled that Amorosi died of multiple gunshot wounds. The sheriff's department put both deputies on administrative leave. Cpl. Jacob Hodge, one of the deputies, was disciplined previously. Records show he was suspended three times and received one written reprimand. Deputy Travis Larson, who was also involved in the incident, had a clean disciplinary record.

Don Amorosi said he hopes the circumstances of his son's death will push change, both in the mental health care system and in the way law enforcement responds to similar crises.

Carver attorney Metz has been talking to the BCA since the investigation started. He says he's giving the case the "highest priority," and he hopes to make a decision in the next month or so.

The BCA will only make the investigative report public when the investigation is inactive. That happens if the county decides not to prosecute the case, when the defendants in the case have exhausted all possibilities for appeal, or defendants are acquitted.