Probe clears cops who killed shooting suspect in Eagan
Updated: Nov. 14, 12:34 p.m.
Authorities announced Wednesday that five officers were justified in using deadly force when they opened fire on 23-year-old Isak Aden on July 2. They were trying to end a nearly four-hour standoff in Eagan after a call of a suspect with a gun.
“It is our conclusion that it was objectively reasonable for these five police officers to subjectively believe that Aden posed a deadly threat. Therefore, they were legally justified,” according to a memorandum released by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.
Video from a Minnesota State Patrol squad car camera shows Aden, of Columbia Heights, firing a handgun at least once as officers approached him, the attorney’s office added.
The incident began after Aden had approached his former girlfriend, who is not identified in the memo, after she’d apparently distributed photos of his genitalia, according to the county attorney memo.
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He confronted her about it as they drove on Minnesota Highway 13 near the Eagan Outlet Mall. During that discussion, she noticed he had a gun in his waistband, and so she steered into oncoming traffic to escape him.
She later told 911 dispatchers that Aden had “just pulled out a gun,” and fled her car, although the memo says she admitted she had falsely claimed he’d threatened her with a gun as they drove.
Police eventually tracked Aden down in an industrial area and found him in a parking lot, pointing the gun at his head.
Despite initial negotiations with an Eagan patrol officer, Aden refused to give up his weapon and told officers to shoot him.
Reinforcements from the Eagan, Burnsville, Bloomington and Edina police departments subsequently arrived and surrounded Aden, who put down the gun on the ground near him, the memo says.
Negotiators arrived, and, using an armored vehicle, dropped a cellphone beside Aden to talk to him.
Despite more than an hour of calls, including between Aden and his girlfriend, he refused to surrender or move away from his gun, and police came up with a plan to distract Aden with flash-bang devices and use less-than-lethal munitions to disable him and take him into custody.
Aden, however, took the gun in hand and fired at least one shot from his handgun as police put the plan into action.
Five officers fired, hitting Aden 11 times, including one shot from a rooftop sniper across the street. He was pronounced dead later at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
Family members had been critical of the police response to Aden, saying dozens of officers responding to the incident had escalated the risk it would end violently.
Aden’s brother went so far as to say authorities had “executed him,” at a September press conference.
In a statement, the Aden family said it was “saddened by Dakota County’s inaction” and continues to grieve. “After reviewing the evidence, it is clear that Isak’s death was avoidable, unnecessary, and unjustified.”
While family members have not yet made a decision on filing a civil suit, the evidence reviewed so far “does suggest that a civil suit will be necessary,” the statement added.
Bloomington Police Chief Jeff Potts acknowledged that it's been a difficult time for the Aden family, the officers involved and the community that have been impacted by the incident.
“I am committed to helping anywhere I can, as individuals work through the process of dealing with their grief, emotions and well-being,” Potts said in a statement Wednesday following the Dakota County attorney’s decision. “My hope is that we can begin the long process of healing from this tragic event.”
Officers identified as having fired in the incident included Eagan officer Jacob Peterson and Bloomington police officers Matthew Ryan, Anthony Kiehl, Adam Stier and Daniel Nelson.
MPR News reporter Matt Sepic contributed to this story.