0
8
A man was naked and unarmed when a St. Paul police officer shot him on Saturday, the police chief said Tuesday as he released body-camera footage.
Police Chief Todd Axtell said Tuesday he’s “taken swift, decisive and serious action to address this incident,” but he said state law prevents him from saying what the action was. A law enforcement source confirmed that Axtell terminated the officer.
Axtell said Tuesday that when he became chief more than four years ago, he “promised to be transparent, … hold the department accountable to the highest standards of our profession and … that I would always do the right thing, especially when it was difficult and today is one of those days.”
He said the man who was shot by an officer in the North End “wasn’t wearing clothing and he had no possessions.”
“Thankfully, that man survived and is recovering at Regions Hospital and thankfully none of our officers were physically harmed during this incident,” Axtell said. “This all happened during a tense call involving more than a dozen police officers and a person wanted for violent crimes including criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and aggravated assault.”