The armed gunman who was shot and killed with his own gun after he tried to rob a liquor store in Inver Grove Heights was identified Friday as a St. Paul man with a long rap sheet.
Dwayne A. Curry, 42, died a few hours after the liquor store manager shot him at Trail Liquors on Thursday morning. Curry demanded cash, the manager grabbed the gun and the two scuffled, authorities said.
The manager, Matt Huerta, also was shot. He was reported in good condition Friday morning at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
State records show Curry has served prison time for nine burglary and theft-related felonies since 1986. He served six years for a 1994 armed robbery in Washington County and was released in 2000, records show. He was booked last fall in connection with burglary and stolen property in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Inver Grove Heights police expect to wrap up the case next week and forward it to the Dakota County attorney's office for review, said Lt. Jerry Salmey. He said police have surveillance video from the store that will be reviewed. He said the county attorney could bring charges against Huerta, decline to charge him because he acted in self-defense or ask a grand jury to consider charges.
"It looks like self-defense," he said. "This appears to have been a robbery that went terribly bad. Somebody died that didn't have to."
He said only the suspect's gun was involved.
Salmey said Trail Liquors had been burglarized before but had no shootings. "That's not common for Inver Grove to have an armed robbery," he said. He said it was fortunate the clerk, who had a minor gunshot wound, didn't get more seriously hurt.
"He obviously felt he had to do something, and he did it," Salmey said.
Jim Adams • 612-673-7658
