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Police shot and killed a person Tuesday evening in the Iron Range town of Virginia, Minn. 

The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office later identified the person as J. Scot Alan Widmark, a 41-year-old man who lived in the town. He died of a gunshot wound.


The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Virginia police and deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of suspicious activity on the 300 block of Second Street South, near Holy Spirit Catholic Church.

According to a press release from the BCA, a woman called 911 after Widmark approached her vehicle and demanded that she get out. He entered the vehicle, but then exited and proceeded to grab a man standing on the nearby sidewalk.


When police arrived, Widmark was still holding the man. At one point an officer discharged his weapon, striking Widmark, the agency said. Widmark was later pronounced dead at the Essentia Health-Virginia hospital.


The officer was identified as Officer Nick Grivna of the Virginia Police Department. He is now on standard administrative leave.


Kevin O'Brien, of Rollingstone, Minn., was outside the church at his truck a little after 5 p.m. when he saw a police squad car whiz past and stop about 150 yards from where he was standing.


"He parked out in the middle of the street and the officer was out in the middle of the street, and there was a shot not long afterward," he said. 

"It sounded pretty loud. Like a big gun."

The BCA said investigators recovered a knife at the scene. 

Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe Jr. said residents are concerned. 

"They're just starving for information that we cannot provide to them because of the investigative aspect of the case," he said. 

The officers who responded to the call were not wearing body cameras, but investigators are checking to see if squad car video captured the incident. 

Body camera policies around the state

Crime, Law and Justice

NewsPartners

Dan Kraker

Author

MPR News Staff

'It sounded pretty loud,' one witness said. 'Like a big gun.' Officials say a knife was recovered at the scene. None of the officers involved in the incident was wearing a body camera.

BCA investigates officer-involved shooting in Virginia

BCA investigates fatal police shooting in Virginia, Minn.

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