No Charges After Stillwater Police Shoot, Kill 22-Year-Old

STILLWATER, MN — There will be no charges filed after a 22-year-old was shot and killed by police while suffering a mental health crisis in Stillwater in November. The Washington County Attorney’s Office (WCAO) declined to issue charges following a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation.

County officials found that the Stillwater police officer was justified in using deadly force against Keaton Larson on Nov. 21, 2018. The WCAO found that "under the totality of the circumstances the officer reasonably feared death or great bodily harm would result if he did not use deadly force," a news release read Thursday.

In a memorandum, the WCAO stated that the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from this set of facts is that the officer fired on Larson in self-defense and within his rights.

In a statement, Pete Orput said that "While the death of an individual by deadly force is never to be taken lightly, there is no question that the actions of the Stillwater Police officer in this matter were wholly justified. We also cannot forget that each of the officers involved in this incident have been deeply affected by the need to take a human life."

Patch interviewed Larson's mother after the fatal shooting. Tessa Andrews told Patch that her son "did not deserve to die in his cry for help."

Stillwater police said Larson was armed with a knife when officers encountered him at a home on the 1200 block of 4th Street South at 1 a.m. Officers tried using Tasers three times, but they were ineffective, according to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Read more here.

A GoFundMe page has been established to raise money for Larson's mother.