Scott County Attorney’s Office: St. Paul officers actions in Belle Plaine shooting were justified
Scott County officials said on Friday that officers who shot and killed a suspect in Belle Plaine last year were justified in their actions.
County Attorney Ron Hocevar said that the use of force from officers was “…necessary to protect these officers from death or great bodily harm” and that “the St. Paul Police Department officers acted appropriately and within the law.”
On the evening of Sept. 25, 2024, Carrie Shobe Kwok, 66, was kneeling in the street and working on an art project in St. Paul when police say a man shot her.
Following the shooting, the gunman — later identified as 29-year-old Seantrell Murdock — was tracked to a home on the 100 block of Meridian Street in Belle Plaine.
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As St. Paul police were staking out the address the next morning, Sept. 26, 2024, Murdock emerged with a gun in his hand, and two officers shot him. He was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center but did not survive.
No St. Paul police officers were harmed.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) later identified the St. Paul police officers who fired their weapons in the incident as Aaron Bohlen and Lance Christianson. Bohlen has 10 years of law enforcement experience and Christianson has 20 years of experience.
Citing the results of an investigation into the force by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), County Attorney Hocevar said, “… while the premature loss of life is always a tragedy, in this situation, the officers acted both reasonably and responsibly. While attempting to peaceably arrest Mr. Murdock for an assassination-style murder of an unarmed civilian in Saint Paul on the previous day, Mr. Murdock’s actions far exceeded ‘resisting arrest’ and rose to the level of presenting a clear and present danger to the arresting officers.”
Hocevar added, “… the officers appropriately exercised the use of deadly force pursuant to Minnesota statutes. Given the totality of these circumstances, known to these officers at the time, such force was used as was necessary to protect these officers from death or great bodily harm.”