A 26-year veteran of the Duluth Police Department shot and killed robbery suspect Brian Cayce Butala on Sunday night, according to Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay.
Ramsay identified the officer Tuesday as Sgt. Brad Wick. He said Wick was returning fire when he shot Butala, who was armed with two handguns.
"This guy fired first," Ramsay said of Butala. "Brad said he looked around the corner and saw the muzzle flash."
Wick has been a member of the department's K-9 Unit for 20 years and its Tactical Response Team -- which responds to all incidents when officers' lives may be in danger -- for 15 years. He is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's investigation of the incident.
Jill Oliveira, BCA public information officer, said investigators were interviewing the Duluth police officers involved in the incident and were unavailable for comment Tuesday.
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Police say Butala, 31, was riding in a silver 2002 Infiniti driven by Amy Jean Sternal, 26, that he had stolen the night before after allegedly robbing the Walgreens store at 1301 E. Superior St. Police spotted and attempted to stop the vehicle shortly before 10:30 p.m. The pursuit ended when the Infiniti crashed at 102nd Avenue West and Dickson Street.
Butala and Sternal ran from the vehicle into a residence in the 1400 block of 102nd Avenue West with officers in chase. Police said Butala was armed with two handguns and fired three times as officers entered the home.
Wick returned fire with 12 of the 16 rounds in his Smith & Wesson Military and Police .40 caliber handgun. Butala later died from his injuries. Wick wasn't injured.
Police said a 23-year-old resident of the house, Jessica Roos, was hit in the leg by a bullet from Butala's gun. She was transported to the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
Sternal was taken into custody. She was charged Tuesday with theft of a motor vehicle, felony receiving stolen property, fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and aiding and abetting an offender to avoid arrest. Police said more charges are possible. She was being held in the St. Louis County Jail on $20,000 bail.
