Bodycam video shows St. Paul officer shoot man after responding to sexual assault

St. Paul police have released video captured by officers’ body-worn cameras that shows the moments leading up to the shooting of a man who was at the scene of a reported sexual assault.

The department publicly released the video on Friday afternoon, six days after the shooting took place at an apartment in the 400 block of Thomas Avenue West.

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), officers were called to the apartment on a report of a sexual assault in progress at around 12:18 a.m. on Saturday. When they arrived, the officers saw a man trying to flee through a back window but he turned around and went back inside.

After officers got the victim of the assault out of the apartment safely, they started calling for the suspect to put up his hands and slowly come out of the room he was in. However, the video shows the man — later identified as 31-year-old Brett Kohl Fraser — appearing to charge the officers, one of whom fired three gunshots.

Fraser’s arm was wounded by the shots and he was then taken to a hospital for treatment. However, he’s expected to be OK, the BCA says.

The involved officer is on standard administrative leave. The BCA is still investigating the incident.