Andrew Rothman
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4192042.html
This cop wannabe never learned the four rules.
Engle then pulled the teenager out of the car with one hand while holding his gun in the other, Schnell said. It was then that the gun discharged and hit the boy in the back, he said.
The whole story:
This cop wannabe never learned the four rules.
Engle then pulled the teenager out of the car with one hand while holding his gun in the other, Schnell said. It was then that the gun discharged and hit the boy in the back, he said.
The whole story:
Security guard may be charged in shooting of 16-year-old
Lourdes Medrano Leslie and Curt Brown, Star Tribune
Published November 4, 2003
A security guard who shot a 16-year-old boy suspected of stealing a car stereo at a St. Paul high-rise apartment building early Sunday may face criminal charges, police said Monday.
The guard, Timothy Engle, 21, told authorities that the shooting was an accident. Engle, who works for Wolf Protective Agency of Coon Rapids, was taken into custody Sunday on suspicion of aggravated assault. Wolf officials declined to comment.
Officer Paul Schnell, a police spokesman, said that even if the shooting was unintentional, "it doesn't change the fact that a 16-year-old was shot."
The teenager, who was not identified, is expected to recover. He remained in stable condition late Monday at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where he had surgery.
The boy's mother said doctors told her that her son would be paralyzed from the shooting, according to a community worker who spoke to the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper for a story published on Tuesday.
Schnell said the teenager was shot after he tried to get away from security guards who were investigating a possible theft about 3 a.m. Sunday at the Skyline Tower, 1247 St. Anthony Av.
Schnell said the shooting happened shortly after Engle and another guard chased the teenager, who had fled on foot from inside the building and jumped into a vehicle in the parking lot.
Schnell said the boy attempted to drive away but stopped when the two guards stood in his way.
Engle then pulled the teenager out of the car with one hand while holding his gun in the other, Schnell said. It was then that the gun discharged and hit the boy in the back, he said.
Engle's attorney, Steven Meshbesher, called the shooting an accident and said that Engle's leg was bruised when the shooting victim's car sideswiped him.
"He (Engle) told him to exit. He grabbed the guy with one hand, and the guy hits and pushes him with a punch-push combination, causing the gun to discharge," he said.
Wants to be officer
Meshbesher said Engle comes from a very stable family, has worked at Wolf for more than a year and is licensed to carry a gun. He is in training to become a police officer.
"My client feels bad about what happened. He wishes he could undo it, but he didn't intend it," he said, adding that he had faxed a letter to the Ramsey County Attorney's office Monday requesting that Engle be released.
Joe Halgrimson, a security guard with another private security firm who once supervised Engle when the two worked together at Wolf, described him as "a level-headed individual."
Like other Wolf employees, Halgrimson said, Engle is well-trained in the use of firearms. He said the company stresses that guns are to be used only "as a very last-ditch effort," when personal safety or somebody else's life is at stake.
The shooting has caught the attention of the state Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services, which regulates security firms such as the Wolf Agency.
Said Marie Ohman, the board's executive director: "Obviously, it's an incident of some note, of concern for us. . . . It's obvious that we will be looking at this."
She would not elaborate but said that when the board investigates and finds wrongdoing on the part of a security firm, it has the authority to suspend or revoke a license, impose administrative penalties or resolve problems through education and conciliation. The board has not previously taken any disciplinary action against Wolf, Ohman said.
Commonbond Communities, which owns the low-income Skyline Towers, reported no problems with Wolf. The company has provided security at the high-rise since September 2002, according to Richard Hutsell, property management director.
The organization spent $13 million to renovate the building after taking it over in 2000, he said, adding that crime has decreased since then. Hutsell said the shooting victim was not a tenant at the 24-story Skyline Towers, which nearly 2,000 Somalis and other recent immigrants call home.
Schnell, the police spokesman, said that although police make frequent calls to the apartment building, the level of crime "is not out of line" given the large number of people who live there.
Staff writer Herón Márquez Estrada contributed to this report. The writers are at [email protected] and [email protected]
