Father describes moments when Edina police shot his 'troubled' son

The 35-year-old man who was shot by police in an Edina condo over the weekend was in a particularly dark mood and combative with his parents in the moments before officers were called to the home, according to the father, who said he witnessed the confrontation with the officers as it escalated.

Colin P. Reinsmoen was identified as the man police shot late Saturday morning in the residence in the 7500 block of Cahill Avenue. Reinsmoen was initially listed in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center. Authorities upgraded his condition to serious but stable as of Sunday afternoon.

Robert Reinsmoen said he and his wife, Mary, have been trying for some time to persuade their son, who has been living with them for a little more than a year, to get help for what they said was severe depression.

"He was here all the time and rarely went out," said Robert Reinsmoen, who added that his son has "had a troubled life" that includes several run-ins with the law.

On the day of the shooting, the father said, the Reinsmoens again tried to encourage their son to leave the condo. Colin Reinsmoen responded by yelling, prompting his mother to call 911.

"We wanted someone to come and get him and take him to a hospital because he was not going to go on his own," Robert Reinsmoen said.

Robert Reinsmoen said he met the arriving officers and said, " 'Please don't arrest him. It's not like that.' "

The father described what he saw and heard:

When the officers met with Colin Reinsmoen in the den, he had a blanket over him while on a couch. One of them said to him, " 'What do you have under the blanket?' "

"[Colin] was very calm. Then, all of sudden, he pulled his arm out of there. That's when I heard a shot, and [the officers] told us to get out of there."

Robert Reinsmoen went down the hall and heard more gunfire. "Everything kind of blew up," he said.

Colin Reinsmoen was armed, his father said, but it was with what he described as "not a lethal weapon." He declined to be more specific because he doesn't want to suggest that he's blaming police for shooting his son.

The father said he returned to the home Saturday night and noted that the damage in the condo tells him that "Colin didn't fire anything. … It looks to me, from all the markings and the direction of the shots, it was all from the two officers."

The son's criminal history in includes two convictions for drug possession, two for possession of drug paraphernalia, and one each for robbery, fleeing police and making harassing phone calls. He also has three convictions for violating conditions of a domestic abuse no-contact order.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting. It has not officially identified the man. The officers involved also have yet to be identified. The Sheriff' Office also has not provided any details about what prompted the shooting, other than that the man had been acting in a threatening manner.

Jail records list Colin Reinsmoen as booked on suspicion of assault in connection with the confrontation with police.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482