Roseville Officers Cleared in Shooting Death of Wayne Malone

Two Roseville police officers have been cleared in the Nov. 17, 2011 shooting death of resident Wayne Malone stemming from a confrontartion at a residential apartment building.

The Roseville Police Department today issued the following press release on the incident and subsequent  county attorney investigation:

On January 17 the Washington County Attorney’s Office declined to present the Roseville police officers involved in the shooting death of Wayne Malone on November 17, 2011 to a grand jury and declined issuing any criminal charges stemming from this incident.
Washington County Criminal Division Chief prosecutor Fred Fink reviewed the case file and provided the following written summary to Roseville Police Department Chief of Police Rick Mathwig:
“This office is declining to issue criminal charges involving the death of Wayne W. Malone on November 17, 2011. It is declining to do so because of the belief that Officers Adams and Dattilo were justified in using deadly force against Wayne W. Malone on this occasion.

Each officer, in the line of duty, reasonably felt the need to protect himself and/or his partner from apparent death or great bodily harm at the hands of Wayne W. Malone. See Minn. Stat. §609.066 subd. 2(1).
The officers, in full uniform, responded to a dispatch to apartment #6 at 655 Larpenteur, Roseville, Ramsey County, on a 911 hang-up call. They did not know what to expect.

On arrival, Adams recognized the address as one where he had met with a violent man the year previous. After knocking and announcing police presence, the officers were quickly met by an advancing Wayne Malone, a black handgun in his hand, or what officers reasonably believed to be a black semi-automatic handgun.

Retreating and repeatedly yelling for Malone to put the handgun down, officers were then faced with the sight of Malone raising the handgun as if to shoot. They then fired their weapons a total of eight (8) times in total, two (2) rounds striking Malone causing his death.
The fact that the officers repeatedly warned Malone to put the gun down is corroborated by two (2) uninterested civilian witnesses. The fact that they were firing while retreating is corroborated by the physical facts. The fact that Malone had the black .177 pellet gun in his hand is corroborated by the DNA evidence.

The only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from this set of facts is that the officers fired on Malone in self defense and squarely within their rights under the cited statute.

While many police involved shooting are presented to grand juries for their consideration, it is the considered opinion of the Washington County Attorney’s Office that the facts of this case are so clear that it would be a waste of valuable public resources to convene a grand jury on this matter.

While the death of an individual by deadly force is never to be taken lightly, there is no question that the actions of Officers Joseph Adams and Grant Dattilo of the Roseville Police Department in this matter were wholly justified.”
Based on Washington County Attorney Fred Finks review of the case file and decline to issue any criminal charges stemming from this incident, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officially closed their investigation on January 18, 2012.
With the Washington County Attorney’s Office decision not to issue any criminal charges and the BCA’s closure of their investigation, the Roseville Police Department considers this matter closed.