The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Wednesday that 21-year-old Jordyn Hansen ignored orders to drop a knife just before he ran toward a Wright County sheriff's deputy and was shot to death by law enforcement in an Otsego neighborhood.
Hansen was wounded about 1 a.m. Sunday near the 12300 block of NE. 72nd Court, where he lived with an aunt and her family as part of an effort to aid his mental health recovery.
In a statement Sunday, the Sheriff's Office said Hansen armed himself with a knife from the kitchen while "having mental health challenges and had threatened physical harm to his family and himself."
Along with its preliminary description of the encounter between Hansen and law enforcement, the BCA identified the deputy who fired the fatal shot as Leland Wilkinson, who joined the Sheriff's Office two months ago and has three years of law enforcement experience.
Hansen's aunt, Sara Wroblewski, said in a statement earlier this week that Hansen moved into her Otsego home a few months ago after completing treatment. She said the family believed a new place to live "was his best chance at a full recovery away."
She said the deputies had "multiple opportunities inside our home ... to peacefully restrain and contain Jordyn knowing that this was a mental health call, and the situation was unpredictable and could change in a moment's notice."
According to the BCA investigation:
In support of deputies who initially handled the call, Wilkinson and three other deputies responded to the scene after Hansen ran from the home with a knife in his hand.
The deputies said they saw Hansen running between vehicles at the end of the home's drive and then to the backyard.
Squad car video showed Hansen running toward Wilkinson. The deputy fired his handgun while falling backward and was joined by Sheriff's Sgt. Jeffrey McMackins in providing medical attention to Hansen, who was shot in the chest.
"All four deputies said Hansen ignored repeated commands to drop the knife," the statement Wednesday from the BCA read. A knife was recovered at the scene, the agency added.
Wright County deputies do not wear body cameras but do have cameras on their squad cars, the BCA said.
"Along with recording audio, those cameras captured portions of the incident," the BCA noted. "It did not capture the entire shooting."
The BCA said it will not release the video to the public before "this case has been closed and fully adjudicated."
Once the BCA investigation is complete, the agency will present its findings without recommendation to the Wright County Attorney's Office for review.
County Attorney Brian Lutes said Wednesday that he will review the BCA's findings, but he declined to say whether he will decide whether the shooting was legally justified or turn that responsibility over to a county attorney's office elsewhere in the state.
Court records in Rice County show that Hansen has a history of mental health difficulties dating back nearly four years to when he lived in Faribault, including suicide attempts and auditory hallucinations.
Courts twice ordered him civilly committed for treatment of social anxiety disorder and depression, with his most recent commitment being extended in March for six months and active at the time of his death.
