A sheriff's sergeant was found to be justified when he shot and seriously wounded a man he was trying to arrest at a mobile home in Moose Lake, Minn., authorities in Carlton County announced.
Sgt. Jason Warnygora"made observations indicating to him that he and his teammates were about to take gunfire" when he and the others encountered Shawn M. Olthoff on July 29 at his mother's home, read a statement released Tuesday by County Attorney Lauri Ketola. "He fired two shots striking Olthoff."
After the shooting, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said no weapons were recovered from the home, and Ketola confirmed that in an interview Wednesday with the Star Tribune.
She has yet to disclose what made Warnygora believe he and the others were at risk of being shot.
Warnygora, a 14-year veteran with the Sheriff's Office, and his fellow emergency response team members were at the residence in the Hillside Terraces Mobile Home Park to arrest Olthoff on charges that he pointed a gun at an officer during a traffic stop on Hwy. 210 two days earlier and fled.
The shooting of Olthoff was investigated by BCA, whose findings were reviewed by retired St. Louis County prosecutor Vern Swanum.
Ketola and Swanum together concluded that Warnygora's use of potentially deadly force against Olthoff "was necessary, justified and authorized under the law," read the statement.
Olthoff's criminal history includes convictions for assault, theft, disorderly conduct, property damage and fleeing a police officer.
