Crystal man killed by shot to head from police, medical examiner says

A gunshot to the head from police is what killed an armed man in his home in Crystal, authorities said Monday.

Nearly three days after the shooting of 62-year-old Ronald L. Klitzka, investigators have yet to release the identities of any of the officers involved or reveal whether their status on the force has changed since the confrontation early Friday evening.

Typically, officer identities in such incidents are disclosed by the investigating agency or the officers' department within a day or two.

Crystal Police Chief Stephanie Revering said her department is deferring to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating Klitzka's death.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Collins said Monday that his agency is waiting for "all necessary parts of the investigation [to] allow for it."

Another shooting involving Crystal officers occurred in late May, resulting in police wounding a young man at a park. In that incident, the officers' identities were disclosed by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension the following day, along with their employment history with the department and the fact they were placed on paid administrative leave.

The BCA, which often heads inquiries into officer-involved shootings in the metro area and elsewhere in the state, is not investigating Klitzka's death.

Klitzka was shot after he fired at least one weapon at officers just after 6:30 p.m. in the 5000 block of Angeline Avenue N., authorities said. Klitzka died at the scene.

Revering and Sheriff Rich Stanek said in a news media briefing Friday night that Crystal officers, with mutual aid from New Hope and Robbins­dale police, responded to a 911 call about a suicidal man at 5:06 p.m.

The officers tried to make contact with the man. When they did, he fired at police and they fired back, authorities said.

"I lost 2 important people in my life in 4 days," a niece, Brenda Lewis, wrote on Facebook in reference to not only Klitzka's death but also the death of his 57-year-old brother, Frederick Klitzka III, a few days earlier.