ROBBINSDALE, Minn — Authorities have identified the man fatally shot last week during an encounter with police in Robbinsdale.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office says 47-year-old Brian Eugene Andren of Ramsey died Jan. 8 of multiple gunshot wounds.
Agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) are handling the investigation into Andren's death, which took place just before 11 a.m. last Friday on the 3700 block of Noble Avenue North. Robbinsdale police say officers first saw Andren's pickup at a convenience store at 36th and Noble, and learned that he had a felony warrant out for his arrest from the state of South Dakota.
Officers say Andren fled when he saw them, driving north on Noble Ave. They were able to stop his truck with a PIT move after just over a block, leaving it sideways in the street in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
At that point, both neighbors and officers say a woman carrying a dog was escorted away from the vehicle, but Andren refused to get out. Eventually, he did, holding a knife in his hand.
A release from the BCA says Andren ignored officers' repeated commands to drop the weapon, an assertion backed up by neighborhood residents. According to the release, a taser deployed by Robbinsdale police officer John Tomczik was ineffective and witnesses say Andren rushed the officers, saying he got within approximately 10 feet before Sergeant Brian Sloat opened fire. Andren was fatally wounded.
BCA investigators say a knife was recovered from the scene. The incident was captured on officer body cameras and squad car dash cams, and the video is currently being analyzed.
Both officer Tomczik and Sergeant Cloat have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, which is standard practice in police shootings.