BCA: Suspect in St. Joseph SWAT incident was pointing gun when deputy shot him

State investigators say a suspect was pointing a gun at law enforcement when a Stearns County deputy shot him last week in St. Joseph.

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, St. Joseph police had initially responded to a report of 38-year-old Jason Patrick Cully making threats of violence on Wednesday. When law enforcement made contact, Cully allegedly pointed a gun at them and ran off. Police did not find Cully on Wednesday evening, but he called the city’s police department several times to make more threats.

At around 5 p.m. the next day, the Stearns/Benton County SWAT Team went to Cully’s home to serve an arrest warrant. The BCA said Stearns County Deputy Tyler Thunstedt saw Cully run across the lawn toward a neighbor’s house and told him to stop and drop his weapon. Cully pointed a gun at Thunstedt, who then fired three shots at Cully, hitting him once.

Cully was taken to the hospital and remains stable, the BCA said. A warrant for his arrest remains active until he’s fit to be released into custody, Stearns County jail records show.

BCA investigators recovered a handgun from the scene. Court records show Cully has a felony-level drug conviction, which disqualifies him from having a firearm.

Cully is charged with one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm and threats of violence. A conviction on the weapons charge carries a minimum of five years in prison.

All members of the SWAT team were wearing body cameras, and the BCA is reviewing footage from the incident as part of its investigation.

The BCA will hand over the results of its investigation to the Stearns County Attorney’s Office once it’s complete.