Duluth police officer fatally shoots suspect armed with knife
Police squad cars block off the area near where a Duluth police officer shot and killed a man armed with a knife Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (WDIO)
A Duluth police officer shot and killed a man after he lunged at police with a knife Friday afternoon, according to Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa.
Around 2:20 p.m., officers attempted to arrest a 34-year-old man suspected of making violent threats, Ceynowa said during a news conference.
The suspect was holding a knife, and despite efforts from officers to deescalate — both with commands and through the use of a stun gun and rubber bullets — he “charged” at one of the officers, Ceynowa said. An officer then shot him with their handgun.
After officers gave the man first aid, medics took him to a hospital, where he died later Friday afternoon.
Ceynowa said the whole encounter happened in an alley on the 1500 block of East Fifth Street in Duluth.
The responding officers are on standard administrative leave. Ceynowa said they were wearing body cameras, and footage of the shooting will be released eventually.
The names of the deceased suspect and the officers were not immediately available.
Duluth police have handed the investigation over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.