BCA identifies officers who shot, killed New Auburn man
NEW AUBURN, Minn. -- Family members say Brent Alsleben was suffering from a mental health crisis when he was shot and killed by law enforcement early Thursday, and now authorities have identified the officers who fired their guns and discharged their Tasers.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said officers Taylor Fenrich, Phillip Mielke, and Tyler Schmeling from the Hutchinson Police Department fired their guns, while Andrew Demeyer and David Olson with the McLeod County Sheriff's Office discharged their Tasers.
Family told WCCO that Alsleben, 34, was diagnosed with bipoloar Schizoaffective in 2011. They said he was off his medication and became withdrawn from a recent loss. His mother and sister granted legal guardianship earlier this week in order to get him help.
Family said they coordinated with the Sibley County Sheriff's Office and met an officer at Alsleben's apartment on Wednesday.
"There was a conflict and they all just rushed out and he locked the door behind them and then they just started calling more and more and more law enforcement and negotiators came and SWAT came," mother Tara Sykes said.
The BCA said that Alsleben "displayed a knife and swung it at the responders" several hours later, and shortly after midnight on Thursday, the five officers forced open his apartment door.
The officers asked him to surrender but he was not responding to commands, the BCA said. Body camera footage also showed that something in the apartment was on fire.
Eventually officers and deputies went inside the apartment and Alsleben was lying on the living room floor with a "large, hunting-style knife in his hand," the BCA goes on to say in a release. They tried to take him into custody but there was a struggle, and Demeyer and Olson tried to use their Tasers.
Alsleben then started to stand up with the knife still in his hand, and Fenrich, Mielke, and Shchmeling fired their weapons, hitting Aslseben, the BCA said. Alsleben died of gunshot wounds.
The BCA said a knife was recovered at the scene, and the "portions" of the incident were captured on body camera footage. One of the officers was cut with a knife.
Family members told WCCO's Jennifer Mayerle that the shooting was a system failure.
"To me this is just proof that they were ill-prepared and did not know how to handle a mental health patient," sister Stacia Shulz said.
The Hutchinson officers are on standard administrative leave, while the McLeod County deputies are not. The BCA is investigating the incident.
Several Minnesota communities now embed social workers with police or sheriff's departments to help manage crisis calls. Watch WCCO's recent report on how that's working in one county here.
If you or a loved one is struggling, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can help. Call 988 to speak with someone anytime, day or night.
