The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension late Tuesday identified the Duluth police officer who discharged his firearm in a downtown incident on Sept. 12 as Tyler Leibfried, a five-year member of the force.
Leibfried has been placed on standard administrative leave after the incident, in which a 23-year old Duluth man was injured by the officer's shot.
The man was taken by ambulance to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder and later released into police custody. The man was booked into the St. Louis County Jail on probable cause domestic assault but was released on Sunday pending case review by the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office with no formal charges filed.
The News Tribune generally does not name people accused of a crime until they have been formally charged in court.
According to the BCA news release, Duluth police officers responded to an apartment at 105 W. First Street following multiple 911 calls about a physical domestic incident. Shortly after officers arrived, the officers said they heard two gunshots, and a witness reported hearing loud sounds from inside the apartment. Officer Leibfried discharged his firearm into the door. The shot went through the door and struck the man inside in the shoulder.
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But based on the BCA’s preliminary investigation, no shots were fired from inside the apartment. No firearms were recovered at the scene. A hatchet was located just inside the door. No one else was in the apartment at the time the officer fired the shot. The alleged victim in the reported domestic incident had left the apartment before law enforcement arrived. That person was not injured.
Portions of the incident were captured on officers’ body cameras, the BCA said, but that video has not yet been made public.
“The BCA’s investigation of the officer-involved shooting incident is ongoing,’’ the agency said in the news release. “When the investigation is complete, the BCA will turn its findings over to the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office for review.”
"Once the Duluth Police Department has all available information, we will commence an administrative review of the incident," DPD public information officer Ingrid Hornibrook said in a release. "This review will include an audit of the officers’ actions for consistency with our policies and training. "
This article was updated at 5:37 p.m. on Sept. 16 to include comment from the Duluth Police Department. It was originally posted at 10:15 p.m. on Sept. 15.
