Prosecutors decline charges against deputies who fatally shot Otsego man
Jordyn Hansen (Courtesy: Family)
The deputies who fatally shot an Otsego man who authorities said was threatening his family this summer have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes said in a letter Friday that the use of force by the officers involved was “completely justified and authorized under Minnesota law.”
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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says 21-year-old Jordyn John Hansen died from gunshot wounds to his chest. He was shot by two deputies who responded to reports that Hansen was having a mental health crisis on the morning of Aug. 7. The BCA said Hansen ran toward deputies with a knife before he was shot.
Family members told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that they were frustrated that deputies didn’t handcuff Hansen and instead allowed him to get to the kitchen and grab a knife in the first place.
Lutes’ letter to Hansen’s family also notes that frustration and says Hansen darted to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, then fled out of the garage as deputies tried to escort him to an ambulance. One of the deputies later said Hansen “showed no signs of aggression” before he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife and said only that he was feeling anxious and claustrophobic in his bedroom.
Hansen’s family said he’d just moved in with relatives in Otsego a few months earlier after undergoing mental health treatment.
According to Lutes’ letter, Hansen told the deputy who shot him, “just kill me,” as he approached with a knife and disregarded calls to drop the knife. Lutes said, based on the video, he determined the deputy had “no choice but to use his firearm” based on how Hansen was moving toward him.
Lutes’ letter also notes that Hansen had been spotted with pills in his room before he ran away and, before the shooting, deputies tried multiple times to use a Taser to subdue Hansen but were unsuccessful.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Jordyn Hansen as well as Sgt. McMackins, Deputy Wilkinson, and all the deputies involved in this traumatic incident,” Lutes said in his letter.