St. Paul police release body-worn camera footage of deadly shooting

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Paul police have released body-worn camera footage of the shooting that left a man dead last weekend.

Earlier this week, witnesses told WCCO that the victim in the Saturday shooting lunged at children and officers with a machete with a 16-inch blade. It happened at an apartment complex in the West 7th Street neighborhood of St. Paul.

"Any loss of life is tragic, and we're keeping the family and friends of Mr. Xiong in our thoughts as they grieve and look for answers," St. Paul Chief of Police Axel Henry said. "We know there aren't words to alleviate their pain, but we hope the release of these videos will help them begin to understand what happened."

The incident happened as a children's birthday party was happening in the lobby. When St. Paul police responded they came face to face with the man, a building resident, in the hallway. Police identified him as Yia Xiong.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter earlier this week said he was committed to releasing the body-worn cameras of officers who shot and killed a man Saturday evening.

Police union president Mark Ross says the officers acted heroically.

"This was a completely justified shooting and our officers faced grave danger to protect themselves and others," Ross said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has taken over the investigation.

The BCA on Wednesday identified the two officers involved in the incident as Abdirahman Dahir, who fired his rifle, and Noushue Cha, who deployed his taser.

St. Paul Councilmember Nelsie Yang joined other members of the Hmong community outside the St. Paul Police Department Friday afternoon. She questions if enough was done do de-escalate the situation.

"He was already in that enclose room," said Yang. "So maybe if officers had allowed for some time to pass in between, maybe even just 15 minutes."

Yang also questioned if there was a breakdown in communication.

"Were there any language barriers at the time, and, if yes, was there an officer there who could actually close that language barrier gap," said Yang.

Police Chief Henry says it appears the officers followed protocol, but it's too early in the investigation to draw any conclusions.