Richfield, Edina officers not charged in shooting death of Brian Quinones
Five police officers from Richfield and Edina will not face any criminal charges in the shooting death of Brian Quinones.
In a statement on Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman wrote that the officers were justified in their use of deadly force when they killed the 30-year-old.
The shooting occurred on the evening of Sept. 7, 2019, at an intersection in Richfield. Edina officer Nicholas Pedersen saw a car moving erratically on the road, and he attempted to pull Quinones over. None of the officers were wearing body cameras. But parts of the incident were captured by cameras mounted on the squads’ dashboards.
One video shows Quinones advancing toward Pedersen with a pointed object in his hand as the officer shouts at him to drop his knife. In another video, Quinones appears to run at an officer before several officers fire between 10 and 11 shots.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner found Quinones died after being shot seven times. Toxicology tests showed he “was not under drug or alcohol influence during the incident,” according to a statement from the county attorney’s office.
Officers Pedersen and Benjamin Wenande of the Edina Police Department and officers Joseph Carroll and Macabe Stariha from the Richfield Police Department fired their weapons at Quinones. Richfield officer Dylan Schultz tried unsuccessfully to subdue Quinones with a Taser.
Members of the Quinones family and community members have questioned why police weren't able to subdue him with a less-than-lethal weapon. Family members feared Quinones, a husband and the father of a 12-year-old, had been feeling suicidal.
Quinones’ brother Joshua posted an angry response to Freeman’s decision on his Facebook page.
“How in the f--- are you gon' tell me that ALL 5 OFFICERS are innocent after THEY MURDERED MY BROTHER IN SUCH A VIOLENT WAY…” he wrote and added that his brother’s death was unnecessary.
In a statement the Richfield Police Department said it’s committed to helping to heal the community. “The incident deeply impacted the Quinones family, the officers involved, and our community,” reads the statement.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which handled the investigation, had refused family and activists’ requests to release the video before now.
Correction (Feb. 11, 2020): Nicholas Pedersen’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.