Sheriff: Man outside Elk River courthouse shot first, then deputies killed him

The man who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies outside the courthouse in Elk River a week ago fired his weapon first, authorities said Friday.

Dana Dempsey, 47, of Big Lake, Minn., was at the Sherburne County courthouse on Oct. 2 to be sentenced for making methamphetamine. He was shot during a confrontation with deputies and died shortly after arriving at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Scott Gudmundson said Friday that Dempsey skipped the sentencing hearing and went into the parking lot, and that at least three deputies went looking for him. Dempsey fired at two of them, and Capt. Dan Andren and court security deputy Nicole Stottlemyre returned fire, Gudmundson said.

"Statements obtained from witnesses and the deputies involved indicate Mr. Dempsey displayed a revolver and discharged that firearm," Sheriff Joel Brott said in a statement.

The two deputies are on paid administrative leave, a standard procedure in such circumstances, while the shooting is investigated by the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Gudmundson said Andren started as a deputy for the office in 1993, and Stottlemyre has worked in court security and transport since 2005. He said that both have fine records and that neither had been involved in a previous shooting incident.

A friend of Dempsey's, Frank Odean of Rogers, said Friday that Dempsey was a widower who had served as a Marine and had two teenage children.

Dempsey had struggled with meth but said he had quit using it, Odean said.

"It's too bad it had to happen." Odean said. He said he had heard Dempsey say many times that he didn't want to go jail.

Dempsey had pleaded guilty to one of four charges against him stemming from a June 24 police search of his home, officials said.

According to the criminal complaint, Sherburne County Drug Task Force investigators found a meth lab in the loft of a locked, backyard shed. The lab contained meth components, including equipment and chemicals associated with making the drug, charges said.

The complaint said Dempsey admitted that he made meth for personal use and that he learned how to make it about five years ago.

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.