The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has concluded that a deadly shooting at a liquor shop in Mounds View, Minnesota last November, in which police shot and killed an armed man, was a permissible use of lethal force.
The results of the county attorney’s inquiry into the police shooting on November 28, 2021, which occurred after allegations of an armed robbery at a plaza along County Road I near Mounds View Boulevard.
Last November, police claimed they learned that the robbery suspect, Noah Kelley, 21, had held the victim at gunpoint, forced them into their car, and forced them to drive across the plaza to a Merwin Liquors store.
Officers from Mounds View and New Brighton police departments came in to engage Kelley at that time, according to the Mounds View police chief, and shots were fired.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated the incident before turning it over to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
The liquor store employee told detectives that Kelley was “simply unlucid” during the confrontation, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. The employee claimed he tried to pull the rifle from Kelley’s grip at one time. Investigators say Kelley held the pistol to the employee’s head after the fight and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off.
Kelley then “went on a rant,” destroying bottles, according to the employee, who took advantage of the situation to flee.
When police arrived at 7:10 p.m., they were advised Kelley was still inside the business and possibly be armed.
According to prosecutors, police requested Kelley to drop his pistol numerous times, but Kelley approached the officers in a shooting posture, prompting police to fire. Shots were fired by officers from both Mounds View and New Brighton. Kelley was eventually declared dead on the spot.
