A Duluth man said he was trying to lock his apartment door when a police officer shot him from the hallway.
The officer was responding Saturday to a reported domestic disturbance when he shot through the closed door and hit the unarmed suspect, state authorities said.
"I was standing by my door. I was stressed out, mad," the man told WDIO-TV in Duluth. "I didn't realize that the cops were even coming in the first place, and I went to lock my door, and when I locked my door, I heard, 'Shots fired,' … and I got hit in the shoulder by one of the bullets."
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on Tuesday released its preliminary findings in the incident in the Kingsley Heights Apartments downtown.
The suspect, a 23-year-old man, was treated at a nearby hospital for a shoulder wound before being booked into jail on suspicion of domestic assault and then released as the investigation continues, the BCA said. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects before they are charged.
The officer who wounded the man was identified by the BCA as Tyler Leibfried, a five-year member of the Duluth Police Department. He was placed on administrative leave.
According to a BCA statement summarizing its initial findings and in answers to follow-up questions from the Star Tribune:
Police received multiple 911 calls about a physical domestic incident. Officers indicated they heard two gunshots, and a witness reported loud sounds from inside the apartment.