No Charges Filed In Fatal Albert Lea Officer-Involved Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Olmsted County Attorney's Office says there will be no charges filed in a deadly officer-involved shooting incident in Albert Lea.
Officers responded to a disturbance call at a home on January 3. When they arrived, 27-year-old Joseph Roberts had already fled.
Investigators say police perused him on foot and found him in an alley. One officer suffered what the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension describes as a sharp force injury.
The officer responded using a chemical irritant and his electroshock weapon on Roberts.
Two other officers — Lt. Darin Palmer and Jesus Cantu — then fatally shot Roberts when he failed to stop aggressively swinging a knife at them, the attorney's office said. A knife was recovered at the scene. All three officers were placed on administrative leave.
At the request of Freeborn County, the Olmsted County Attorney's Office reviewed the investigation.
After thorough review, the office concluded that the evidence does not support criminal charges of any of the officers and that their use of deadly force was justified.
"The United States Supreme Court held in Graham v. Connor that the use of deadly force by a police officer must be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable police officer on the scene and in the same circumstances. In this case, the evidence supports the conclusion that Ofc. Cantu and Lt. Palmer reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to protect themselves and/or others from death or great bodily harm," the office said.