The shooting of a suspect last week by the commander of a drug task force in central Minnesota happened because his gun went off accidentally, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) disclosed Tuesday.
Citing preliminary findings, the BCA said in a news release that a gun belonging to Lt. David McLaughlin of the Stearns County sheriff's office "unintentionally discharged ... when suspects were placed on the ground" during an arrest Friday afternoon at the McStop restaurant in St. Cloud.
John Albert Sorensen, 42, of West St. Paul, was brought to St. Cloud Hospital, treated for what was described by authorities as a grazing wound, and released to police the next day. Sorensen and Holly Lynn Faulkner, 30, of St. Paul, appeared in court Monday on charges related to the sale of methamphetamine and are being held in the Stearns County jail.
Officers involved in the arrests reported recovering 12.5 grams of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $1,000.
The sheriff's office and St. Cloud Police Department requested that the BCA investigate the shooting. McLaughlin, commander of the Central Minnesota Drug and Gang Task Force, was placed on paid administrative leave, standard procedure while officer-involved shootings are investigated, the BCA said.
Findings will be presented to the Stearns County attorney's office after the investigation is complete, a process the BCA said typically takes six to eight weeks.
ABBY SIMONS
