BCA: Officers identified in St. Paul incident involving suspect in multiple shootings

Officials identified St. Paul officers Monday in a shooting involving a man charged in several recent incidents.

If previously reportedAround 7:45 p.m., officers were called to the intersection of Snelling and University Avenue West for a report of shots fired. There, police found a suspect armed with a handgun, and police then began negotiating with him.

Bennett did not put the gun down or surrender and continued south until he reached the intersection of University Avenue and Snelling Avenue.

St. Paul police say that’s when Bennett pointed the gun at his own head and walked into the middle of the lanes and median between traffic on Snelling Avenue before stopping in the light rail lanes.

That’s where police say they used less-lethal projectiles to get Bennett to put the gun down, and he pointed his gun at officers, causing them to fire their weapons, hitting him.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) states that the following officers were involved:

• Austin Borowicz, three years of law enforcement experience, fired 40mm less-lethal rounds.
• Shawn Marlowe, with ten years of law enforcement experience, fired his gun.
• Chase Robinson, 10 years of law enforcement experience, fired his gun.
• Sergeant Lamichael Shead, eight years of law enforcement experience, fired his gun.
• Blake Steffen, four years of law enforcement experience, fired his gun.
• Peov Suon, three years of law enforcement experience, fired 40mm less-lethal rounds.

According to the BCA, all officers are on critical incident leave.

On Tuesday, the shooting suspect was identified as 40-year-old Earl Bennett.

Bennett was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County with one count of ineligible possession of a firearm and one count of second-degree assault in connection with the officer-involved shooting.

Bennett was also charged Tuesday in Hennepin County.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Tuesday afternoon that Bennett is wanted the triple shooting at a homeless camp on Sunday which left two men dead and one woman suffering life-threatening injuries. O’Hara also said Bennett is the suspect a shooting in Minneapolis on Monday leaving one man with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Bennett was charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder in that Monday shooting.

Bennett remains in critical but stable condition at Regions Hospital. The BCA investigation into the incident is ongoing.