BCA identifies officer, suspect involved in South St. Paul shots-fired incident

The Minnesota BCA identified the officer and suspect involved in a shots-fired incident in South St. Paul over the weekend.

The BCA says that two South St. Paul police officers responded to a disturbance call inside the garage of an apartment complex when they saw a man pointing a gun at them. The officers then left the garage through a lobby door.

Authorities say that as the officers were standing outside, the main garage door opened and the man was still standing inside.

Officer Dylan Naffzinger, with one-and-a-half years of experience, fired one round of his gun at the man, later identified as 54-year-old Demetrious Royal. Royal was not hurt and followed the officers’ commands to get on the ground.

Royal then slid a laser pointer that could be attached to a gun towards the officers. He was taken into custody and now faces one charge of threats of violence with a replica or BB gun.

Neither Royal nor another woman also in the garage are believed to be connected to the original 911 call.

BCA officials recovered the laser pointer and one cartridge casing outside of the garage. They also found a Black Ops .177 caliber CO2-powered pellet gun inside the garage.

The officers were wearing body cameras during the incident, which BCA agents are currently reviewing.

Once the investigation is complete, the BCA will present its findings to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office without a charging recommendation.