AUSTIN, Minn. – Authorities have released the names of an Austin police officer and the man he shot to death on Christmas Eve.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has identified the officer as Zachary Gast.
The Southern Minnesota Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man Gast shot as 38-year-old Kokou Christopher Fiafonou of Austin. Police said Fiafonou was walking in traffic with a machete on Dec. 23. He retreated to an apartment and a 24-hour stand-off with officers ensued. On the evening of Dec. 24 Fiafonou left the apartment.
Officers followed him to a Kwik Trip parking lot. Fiafonou confronted them with a knife and Gast shot him multiple times.
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