Bodycam video shows Minnetonka shooting that left 2 deputies hurt, suspect dead
Two weeks after an exchange of gunfire left two deputies injured and a suspect dead in Minnetonka, law enforcement has released video from the deputies’ body-worn cameras.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office released nearly 48 minutes of bodycam video from the April 10 incident on Wednesday. The clips show the chaotic scene with dozens of gunshots heard in the background.
Court documents revealed that deputies were trying to arrest 34-year-old Joshua Immanuel Ramos for violating a no-contact order when they went to a home along Mayview Terrace near East Crestwood Drive. However, while deputies were outside, authorities say 28-year-old Clint Lavelle Hoyhtya started firing shots at them.
Deputy Christopher Heihn was hospitalized with an apparent hand injury while Deputy Keith McNamara was struck by shrapnel and treated at the scene. Hoyhtya died at the scene after authorities returned fire.
Video from Heihn’s bodycam shows him stationed outside the garage of a neighboring home when a person, apparently Hoyhtya, starts firing gunshots. Heihn is then seen quickly retreating and bleeding from his hand area as another officer runs to help him.
Video from McNamara’s bodycam shows he was at the back of the suspect’s house, yelling for the suspect to come outside. A man is then heard yelling, “What the (expletive) do you want,” and McNamara quickly runs away, saying the man had a gun, although it wasn’t clearly visible in the brief clip from his bodycam. He then relays the information over his radio that a man pointed a gun at him and fired two shots.
It also shows clips from two other deputies.
Later in the video, as two deputies are talking, one is heard asking, “Is that him?” Two gunshots are then heard, followed by more than a dozen shots, apparently from law enforcement. Deputies then yell for the man to show his hands before a deputy is heard saying, “Suspect is down on the ground.” They continued to yell commands for at least a minute before the video cuts out. A deputy is also heard noting that the suspect was wearing body armor.
Reflecting on the footage from the body cameras, former chief of the St. Paul Police Department Todd Axtell, who now runs public safety and security consulting firm The Axtell Group, calls the violence against law enforcement over the last 15 months “unprecedented.”
“We’ve had 20 law enforcement officers in the state of Minnesota who had been struck by gunfire, four first responders killed in that 15-month period,” Axtell told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.
“They don’t know what they’re going to face on any given call. You know, a knock at the door, a simple traffic stop, a simple person sleeping in a car call for service, can tragically turn deadly,” he adds.
Axtell says he has a few focuses for the potential causes for the increase in violence.
“I keep coming back to the fact that there are more guns in the hands of people who really shouldn’t have guns,” Axtell added.
Another, he says, is increased attention on treating mental illness. Last, Axtell says lands with the justice system.
“[We have] to make sure that we have a zero-tolerance approach for any gun crimes, period,” Axtell said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is still investigating.
Click here to watch the video. WARNING: It is unedited and contains material that may be disturbing to some people.