St. Paul officers identified in shooting at Snelling and University

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says four St. Paul police officers fired handguns or rifles in an incident at Snelling and University avenues on Monday.

They identified them and two other officers firing non-lethal rounds into the jail on Wednesday Shooting a man who police say pointed a gun in their direction.

Earl Bennett, 40, remains in critical but stable condition in hospital, the BCA said Wednesday. Bennett is a suspect in two murders and two other serious shootings at a Minneapolis sober house and a homeless camp on Sunday and Monday, according to Minneapolis police.

The BCA, which is investigating, identified the officers involved as Officer Chase Robinson and Sgt. Lamichael Shead, both of whom fired their pistols; Officers Shawn Marlowe and Blake Steffen, both of whom fired guns; and Officers Austin Borowicz and Peov Suon, both of whom fired non-lethal rounds.

Robinson and Marlowe have 10 years of law enforcement experience, Shead eight years, Steffen four years and Borowicz and Suon three years, the BCA said.

The officers are on administrative leave, which is standard in such cases.

Photographing at a busy intersection

St. Paul police officers were called to Pierce Street near University Avenue on Monday just before 7:45 p.m. Several people reported shots fired in the area.

An officer reported seeing a man, identified as Bennett, walking south on Snelling Avenue toward University Avenue with a gun in his hand, according to a criminal complaint against Bennett filed Tuesday in Ramsey County.

“We have no information indicating that any of our officers knew his identity or his past actions prior to encountering him,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman.

The officer also reported that Bennett did not drop the gun and continued walking. He held the gun to his own head, walked in the middle of the lanes and on the median between the lanes on Snelling Avenue. He stopped in the middle of the tram tracks. A witness reported that Bennett told police to shoot him.

Officers negotiated with him to put down the gun, but he didn’t, Ernster said.

An officer fired non-lethal rounds at Bennett to get him to drop the gun. Bennett pointed his gun at officers and officers shot him, the complaint said.

A 9mm pistol that Bennett dropped after he was shot did not hold a magazine; it had a round of ammunition in its room, the complaint said. The gun is tied to shell casings fired in the Minneapolis murder.

Community advocates on Tuesday called on officials to immediately release body camera footage.