Witnesses told WCCO earlier this week that the victim of Saturday’s shooting lunged at officers and children with a machete with a sixteen-inch blade. It took place in an apartment complex on the West 7th Street area of St. Paul.
Axel Henry, St. Paul Chief Police Officer said that any loss of life was tragic. We know that there are no words to ease their pain. But we hope these videos will help them to begin to understand the situation.
It happened while a children’s party was taking place in the lobby. The man was a resident of the building. Yia Xiong was his name.
Melvin Carter, the Mayor of St. Paul, stated earlier this week that he would release the body-worn cameras from officers who shot and killed a man on Saturday night.
Mark Ross, president of the Police Union, says that officers were heroic.
Ross stated, “This was a perfectly justified shooting and our officers faced serious danger to protect themselves and other.”
The investigation has been taken over by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
On Wednesday, the BCA identified the two officers involved as Abdirahman Dahir who fired his rifle and Noushue Cha who used his taser.
Nelsie Yang, a St. Paul councilmember, joined other Hmong members outside the St. Paul Police Department on Friday afternoon. She asks if there was enough done to de-escalate this situation.
Yang said, “He was already inside that enclosed room.” Yang said that officers could have allowed for a little more time between the two, perhaps even 15 minutes.
Yang also asked if there had been a break in communication.
Yang asked Yang if there were any language barriers and if so, was there an officer who could close the gap.
Chief Henry of the Police says that the officers followed protocol. However, it is too early to draw any conclusions.
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