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No charges in fatal St. Paul police shooting

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office has determined the actions by two St. Paul Police officers were justified.
Twenty-nine-year-old Cordale Quinn Handy of Waukegan, Illinois, was killed by St. Paul police officers on March 15. The shooting is under investigation by the BCA.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Ramsey County Attorney's Office will not be filing charges in the officer-involved shooting which resulted in the death of Cordale Handy.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and his staff determined that the use of deadly force by St. Paul Police officers Mikko Norman and Nathaniel Younce was legally justified on March 15, 2017.

Around 2:20 that morning, squads were dispatched to an apartment building on the 700 block of East 6th Street on reports of a physical domestic situation.

Officers arrived to find Handy's girlfriend and another woman in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Officers reported they appeared visibly upset and frightened. In talking with the women, and what they gathered from the initial 911 call, officers learned Handy was in possession of an unloaded pistol, was under the influence of drugs and was with his pit bull. Handy's girlfriend urged officers not to hurt him.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cordale Quinn Handy of Waukegan, Illinois (center) was killed by St. Paul police officers on March 15. The shooting is under investigation by the BCA.

Video captured from a community center security camera showed Handy, 29, and his dog walking northbound on Sinnen, approaching East 7th. It also shows Handy had a pistol with an extended magazine in his right hand, walking very unsteady, displaying erratic movements and looking in the opposite direction as if he believed he was being followed. Officers Norman and Younce could be seen, on foot, in the video approximately seven seconds later.

As the officers approached Handy, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigators say the officers identified themselves and ordered Handy to the ground. Officer Norman said that's when he saw the gun in Handy's right hand and yelled, "Police, stop, drop the gun, get on the ground!"

From their respective positions, approximately 50 yards away, both officers saw Handy appear to unintentionally "flop" down onto his buttocks and lay on his back on the street curb. The dog ran towards Handy's girlfriend, who was following the officers. The officers ran towards Handy to better assess the situation, according to BCA investigators.

At approximately 35 yards, both officers say they saw Handy sit upright and briefly raise his gun towards Officer Norman before lowering it. Both officers again ordered him to drop the gun. Instead, Handy raised it again towards Officer Norman. That's when both officers fired a total of seven shots at Handy, wounding him.

Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner. An unloaded, black, Glock 21 .45 caliber pistol with an extended magazine was found approximately 10 feet from Handy's body.

St. Paul police officers shot and killed 29-year-old Cordale Handy on March 15, 2017. (KARE 11)

Investigators also recovered a 14-minute and 4-second cell phone video from Handy's girlfriend. In it, handy is seen with a gun. His girlfriend accuses him of pointing it at her. She is also heard telling Handy that he's "tweaking" and that he needs to "stay off that Molly." She repeatedly assures him that there is no one other than her in the apartment.

Handy, from Waukegan, Illinois, fired a total of 16 shots in the cell phone video, all within a minute. Investigators later determined Handy was a felon in possession of a firearm, which happened to be stolen.

Handy's girlfriend has refused to be interviewed by investigators, despite repeated attempts.

County Attorney John Choi ultimately found, "in this type of situation, officers are expected and trained to pursue a suspect, not withdraw from the situation."

In an email to assistant county attorneys John Kelly and Richard Dusterhoft, Choi wrote, "Both officers repeatedly ordered Mr. Handy to drop his gun. Instead, Mr. Handy did not comply and pointed his gun a second time at Officer Norman, at which time both officers fired their weapons fatally wounding him. While it is true that information was presented to the officers that Mr. Handy’s gun may have been unloaded, it would be unreasonable for anyone to expect and incredibly dangerous for the officers to presume that was true under these facts and circumstances."

RELATED: Family of man shot by St. Paul police files lawsuit

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell released a statement following the decision.

"What happened on Wednesday, March 15, is a tragedy," he stated. "My heart goes out to the Handy family, who has lost a loved one. I also feel for the officers who ran towards danger, had a stolen gun pointed at them and were forced to take action. They did not choose the situation; the situation chose them. And their lives have been forever changed."

Axtell continued, "The investigation revealed evidence that shows the violence, terror and danger endured by those in the apartment building and neighborhood during the minutes that preceded the incident. Sixteen shots were fired inside the apartment. Lives were put at risk. Officers showed incredible restraint, giving Mr. Handy multiple opportunities to drop his weapon. And even then, he made the decision to point his gun at them."

"While the investigation clearly shows that our officers did everything they could to pursue a different outcome, I take no solace in the fact that our officers were put in such a dangerous position and a man lost his life," Axtell concluded.

Handy's mother has filed a federal lawsuit against the officers and the city. Attorney Andrew Stroth said the family is disappointed in the prosecutors' decision and is reviewing investigative materials. He says the family believes the shooting was unjustified.

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