Man in mental health crisis grabs cop’s gun, pulls trigger as he’s being restrained; another officer opens fire: Officials

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Rochester police officers and a Crisis Response Team social worker were called to an apartment in the 1900 block of Ashland Drive Northwest around 9:30 p.m. March 11 on a report that a man was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Officers and social workers arrived and spoke to the man in his apartment, the bureau said, adding that an adult female and multiple children also were present.

The bureau said White ‘grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire.’

Officers and the social worker noted that the man was acting erratically and paranoid, and they concluded that he possibly was a threat to himself and others, the bureau said.

Authorities decided to place the man — later identified as 47-year-old Cleavon White — on a 72-hour mental health hold and told him he would be transported to a hospital, the bureau said.

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Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

After White refused to go, officers then attempted to take him into custody, the bureau said.

But White resisted and a struggle ensued, the bureau said.

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Image source: Rochester (Minn.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

The bureau said White “grabbed an officer’s firearm during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing the gun to fire.”

Police bodycam video of the incident — which can be viewed here — recorded the moment when the officer shouted, “He’s grabbing my gun!”

Seconds later, another officer fired five shots, according to the bodycam video.

The bureau said the shots struck White, after which officers immediately rendered medical aid until an ambulance arrived and transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In the aftermath of the shooting, someone is heard on the bodycam video asking where the gun is, and someone else — presumably the officer who shouted, “He’s grabbing my gun!” — is heard saying, “It’s still in my holster.”

No officers were injured, the bureau said.

Officer Josiah Duit — who has three years of law enforcement experience — fired his department-issued firearm, the bureau said, adding that the Rochester Police Department placed Duit on critical incident leave.

A March 12 news release from Rochester Police said the then-unidentified man grabbed one officer’s firearm during the struggle, but it did not indicate he pulled the trigger. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued it’s report March 17. The police bodycam video was released Wednesday.

The bureau said the Rochester Police Department requested that it investigate the use of force, and the bureau will present its findings without recommendation on charges to the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office for review.

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