Court filing: Teen shot by Minneapolis police 'had knife raised' as he closed in on officers

The teenager who was shot by Minneapolis police inside City Hall last month raised the knife he was using to stab himself and strode toward officers who then shot him in response, according to a court filing.

These details in a search warrant affidavit filed Monday in Hennepin County District Court offer the most specific recounting of Marcus Fischer's alleged movements leading up to his being wounded by officers' gunfire in a police interview room on Dec. 18.

Until Monday's filing seeking Fischer's medical records from the wounds he suffered, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and other accounts were that he was heading toward the door and ignoring orders to drop the weapon.

At the end of the interview, Fischer was briefly left alone, and video surveillance showed him pulling the knife from his waistband and stabbing himself in the chest, neck and throat, the latest court document filed by the BCA read.

Upon officers entering the room, "Fischer had the knife raised as he walked toward and closed the distance with officers," the filing continued.

That's when Sgt. Gene Suker and officer Jerome Carey shot Fischer, who was hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center until Dec. 28.

A telephone message was left with Fischer's attorney seeking reaction.

"What you see is 8½ minutes of de-escalation by [police]," said Kroll who is calling for public release of the video that captured the encounter.

Kroll said that the officers didn't shoot "until [Fischer] was at the threshold of the doorway. They had no other alternative."

Monday's filing reiterates earlier accounts that Fischer hid the "large" folding knife in his waistband and that officers first used their Tasers on him after trying to negotiate with him to put down the knife.

Suker and Carey are on paid administrative leave pending the BCA's investigation. State investigators will turn over their findings to prosecutors from Washington County, which is handling the case because of a conflict of interest.

The conflict arose from the fact that the Hennepin County attorney's office has charged Fischer in the robbery case and also employs the father of officer David Martinson, who deployed the Taser.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482