FARGO (KFGO) – North Dakota’s attorney general says officers were justified in their use of deadly force against a man police say was having a mental health crisis.
Attorney General Drew Wrigley, Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner and other officials held a news conference Monday to provide additional information on the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Andrew Martinez in Mapleton on Aug. 1.
Wrigey said Cass County Sheriff’s deputies initially responded to the residential neighborhood to a shots fired call and heard a number of additional shots when they arrived. He said law enforcement officers on scene were made aware of some other alleged criminal behavior involving Martinez from earlier in the day and that Martinez had a military background. A number of residents in neighboring homes were home at the time and were asked to shelter in place. One neighbor reported seeing Martinez with a handgun in his yard, looking intoxicated.
Jahner said a negotiator spoke with Martinez on and off for hours. He said she repeatedly urged Martinez to come out of the house without his weapon, but he did not comply. The negotiator said she thought she heard the sounds of the slide racking of a firearm.
Wrigley says four officers from the Metro Street Crimes unit fired their weapons when Martinez, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, appeared in the doorway of a residence and pointed the gun at them following a four-hour standoff.
“When that weapon came out and it came down aimed directly toward the position of the officers, four officers almost simultaneously made independent judgements sizing up everything they knew at that point and what Mr. Martinez was doing with the weapon and how menacing that was,” Wrigley said.
Wrigley says 20 to 25 rounds were fired by the officers and five gunshots struck Martinez, who bled to death at the scene despite three officers attempting life-saving measures after a drone was sent in to confirm that Martinez was no longer a danger after the shooting. An autopsy showed that Martinez had “acute” blood alcohol levels at the time of the shooting.
Wrigley met with the officers involved in the shooting – Sergeant Travis Moser, Detectives Joshua Heller and Ryan Jasper, and Investigator Jordan Korte – on Friday. They have been on leave during the state’s investigation. Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski said he did not have an exact timeline for when the four would be back on duty.
Wrigley said met with the Martinez family on Sunday night to let them know the decision he had reached and answer their questions.
The Martinez family released a statement through their attorney saying they were saddened to learn that the Attorney General decided the police officer’s use of force was justified. The family said, “knowing that Andrew was in crisis and not in his right mind, we wish that more would have been done to prevent this tragic outcome.”
They called on authorities to “re-evaluate” how they respond to people experiencing mental health crises and ensure officers are trained in de-escalation best practices.
