Rochester Officer Justified in Fatal Shooting
Austin, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Mower County Attorney has completed her review of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigative reports into a fatal police shooting in Fillmore County last October and has concluded the Rochester Police Officer who shot and killed a rural Lanesboro man was justified in using deadly force.
The opinion from Kristin Nelson states Officer Steven Thompson fatally shot 45-year-old Kristofer Youngquist after the man shouldered a rifle inside his home, pointed it at officers through a window, and put his eye to a targeting scope. The report says Thompson and other members of the Rochester/Olmsted County Emergency Response Unit were in an armored vehicle, but Youngquist’s use of the scope put them at “imminent risk of being shot.”
Fillmore County authorities requested the assistance from the Rochester tactical team after Youngquist attacked a woman before he went to his rural property and made statements to officers that indicated he had no intention of surrendering.
After the fatal shooting, investigators learned the rifle used by Youngquist was actually a pellet gun that looked very much like a hunting rifle.
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