After reviewing the case, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena decided that a Ramsey County deputy’s use of his squad car to strike and kill an armed man in Mound View, Minnesota in September 2021 was a lawful use of force.
After examining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s investigation of the event, the autopsy report, and multiple statements made by responding police and witnesses, Keena delivered the finding Wednesday afternoon. According to the news release, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office requested that the Dakota County Attorney’s Office investigate the event.
The squad approaches the scene in the 5200 block of Pinewood Court, where Troy Engstrom is standing on the sidewalk, according to dash camera footage provided by Sgt. Don Rindal’s squad on September 22. As the squad car approaches the suspect, the deputy exclaims, “Got a pistol; shots fired,” at 19 seconds into the video. Before the patrol car hits Engstrom, who is seen carrying a pistol, the video cuts off.
According to the sheriff’s office, the incident began at 10:40 a.m. when officers were dispatched to a motel on the 2200 block of Mounds View Boulevard for a complaint of a domestic assault with a pistol.
Deputies said they gave help when Engstrom was hit by the squad, and he was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. According to the medical examiner, Engstrom died from numerous blunt force injuries sustained in a pedestrian-motor vehicle incident.
