Eau Claire deputy fatally shoots fugitive

Man brandished stun gun after traffic stop

An Eau Claire County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a federal fugitive on Sunday after the man put a stun gun to the deputy’s chest and kept coming, the sheriff said.

The deputy had stopped a minivan with Minnesota plates for a turning violation in Eau Claire at about 6:45 a.m. and learned the driver had a federal warrant for his arrest, Sheriff Ron Cramer said.

With the man outside the squad car, the deputy told him he was under arrest. But the man pulled out a stun gun and put it to the deputy’s chest, Cramer said. The deputy separated himself from the man, but as the man kept coming, the deputy fired several shots, killing him.

The shooting happened in a parking lot outside a laundry on Eau Claire’s west side. The suspect was in his 60s and from the Twin Cities, the Star Tribune reported. His name has not been released.

“The individual provoked the officer to use deadly force,” Cramer said. “Why he was in Eau Claire, it may be as simple as we’re along I-94, and it was for food or to commit another crime.”

Cramer said the man was an “old-time criminal” whose record included bank robbery.

“He spent a lengthy amount of time in federal prison, and he knew the warrants were out” for his arrest, Cramer said. “He was not going to go back to prison, based on his actions.”

The sheriff said the deputy, whose name has not been released, acted appropriately, the Leader-Telegram reported. The deputy is on standard administrative leave.