DULUTH, Minn. (KFGO) – A man who was shot by Duluth Police in 2020 has reached a $600,000 settlement with the city.
Jared Fyle was hit in the shoulder when officer Tyler Leibfried shot through a closed door as he and another officer responded to a domestic call.
According to court records, Leibfried and another officer responded to 911 calls reporting a disturbance in an apartment. The officers arrived to find a woman outside who said she had an argument with Fyle and wanted to get some of her things, but there wasn’t a physical fight or injuries.
The officers went to Fyle’s apartment to get the items and talk to Fyle, but agreed they had no reason to detain him. As they were approaching, Fyle pounded his door closed.
The noise prompted Leibfried to fire four shots into the door.
Leibfried claimed he heard the sound of “metal on metal” before he shot, believing the person in the apartment was preparing to shoot again.
Leibfried fired two more shots. One of the bullets hit Fyle in the back shoulder.
Leibfried was charged, but acquitted in the shooting.
According to the lawsuit, the officers had no reason to believe Fyle was armed, did not announce themselves, or give any warnings before the shots were fired. There were no guns or ammunition found in Fyle’s apartment.
The lawsuit also says Leibfried and the other officer were not forthcoming with information about the shooting. As officers were walking Fyle out of the apartment, they told him they didn’t know who shot him, and paramedics at the scene were not told that Fyle was shot by a Duluth Police officer.
During a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation, Leibfried admitted that Fyle couldn’t have known officers were outside his apartment, and had no way to surrender.
Leibfried also told investigators that a shooting incident in 2019 affected his judgment in the 2020 incident.
The lawsuit contended that Fyle’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated, and that the City of Duluth failed to properly train officer Leibfried in use of force.
“Officer Tyler Leibfried made a serious mistake on Sept. 12, 2020,” said Andrew Noel with Robins Kaplan, the law firm representing Fyle. “No one claimed that Jared Fyle was involved in any criminal activity that day. Mr. Fyle looks forward to finally putting this incident behind him.”
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