Police shot and killed a man outside a home in Duluth early Tuesday after they saw him reach for a handgun, authorities said.
The 26-year-old Duluth resident was pronounced dead in the 300 block of E. Locust Street, police spokesman Jim Hansen said. His identity was withheld pending notification of relatives.
The officers, four- and five-year veterans of the police force, were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, Hansen said.
According to a police statement:
Shortly before 2 a.m., police were called to a single-vehicle crash near Orange Street and Arlington Avenue. The driver fled the scene, but police went to the home where the vehicle was registered.
One officer encountered the man outside, and he had a handgun. The second officer arrived, and both officers repeated "loud verbal commands" in an encounter that lasted more than three minutes.
As the officers attempted to arrest the man, he "reached for the area where the gun was located. Both officers fired their duty weapons."
Duluth police have asked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the shooting.
