Minneapolis police officers cleared in shooting of armed man

Eight Minneapolis police officers who fired their guns that killed an armed man outside a home during a domestic disturbance and one officer who fired a non-lethal round have been cleared of wrongdoing, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Monday.

Freeman said in a release that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation showed that 52-year-old Chiasher Vue fired 13 shots from a semi-automatic rifle, most of them aimed at police who had been called to the house on Dec. 15, 2019 by Vue's adult son. Vue was struck by 13 bullets, the report said.

Police had responded to a report of man carrying a knife and shooting a gun. Officers eventually contacted Vue by phone and, speaking through an interpreter, tried to defuse the situation and convince him to leave the home. When he came out, an officer fired a non-lethal round at Vue. Within seconds, shots were fired by officers and Vue. Investigators were unable to determine who fired the first shot.

An autopsy showed that Vue's blood alcohol level was .20, more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Freeman said the officers took numerous steps to avert the outcome. “Under the totality of the circumstances, the use of deadly force by the officers was necessary, proportional to the threat and objectively reasonable,” Freeman said.