County attorney's office to review Terrence Franklin shooting

A high-profile police shooting that left one man dead and two officers injured will get reviewed by the Hennepin County attorney's office before it goes to a grand jury for possible charges, officials announced Friday.

The move came as Minneapolis police said Friday they've finished their investigation of the fatal shooting of Terrence Franklin, a burglary suspect who led police on a foot chase through the Uptown neighborhood before an officer shot him in the basement of a house on May 10.

The case will get an initial review from the county attorney's office before it is sent to the grand jury, said County Attorney Mike Freeman. "The position of this office is that every officer incident that results in the death of a civilian is taken to the grand jury," he said.

The jury, and the attorney's office, will weigh the decision by Minneapolis police to use deadly force against Franklin.

Freeman said his office will review the case to determine if there's sufficient evidence for the grand jury to consider whether charges are warranted. That process could take months, he said. The grand jury will get the case once the review is finished. The grand jury will either indict the officers or decide there's no probable cause for criminal charges in the case.

Officer Luke Peterson was identified by sources with knowledge of the investigation as the police officer who fired the fatal shot. The sources told the Star Tribune that officers were struggling with Franklin, 22, in a cramped basement room when he reached for an officer's MP5 machine pistol and squeezed the trigger as the officer held the gun, firing at least two shots that struck two officers in their legs.

Peterson stepped between the officer who had the MP5 and Franklin, who was trying to get another shot off, the sources said. Peterson then fired back, killing Franklin, according to the sources. The police officers survived.

Police Chief Janeé Harteau's handling of the case became an issue in the days afterward as she defended her department's decision to release few details. She eventually held a tense news conference five days after the shooting, but left unanswered whether Franklin had a gun and who fired the shots in the basement.

The Hennepin County medical examiner's office said Franklin had multiple gunshot wounds, but did not give a specific number.

Matt McKinney • 612-217-1747