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| Statement of Kasota shooting released |
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Posted: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:38 pm
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Authorities with the Anoka County Attorney's Office released information on Tuesday from the investigation of the Tyler Heilman shooting death in Kasota.
Investigation into the death of Tyler Mark Heilman
I’m Andrew Johnson. This is Blair Buccicone. We’re Assistant County Attorneys here in Anoka. As you know, our office was asked to review the case regarding the shooting death of Tyler Mark Heilman for possible criminal charges. Mr. Heilman was shot to death on July 20, 2009, in Kasota, Minnesota, by Deputy Todd Waldron of the LeSueur County Sheriff’s Office.
This case has attracted a great deal of attention, both by the media and by the general public. This is for good reason. Whenever a law enforcement officer uses deadly force against a citizen, a thorough investigation is imperative, and a full accounting must be made. Friends and family deserve to know what happened to their loved one, and the public needs to have confidence in their law enforcement officials.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and our office was asked to consider whether criminal charges were warranted. When we received the file, we quickly learned that there were several different—and conflicting—accounts of what happened. Some of these accounts have been reported in the media, others have not. Because of these conflicting accounts, we decided to convene a grand jury so that the charging decision could be made by a panel of citizens after hearing live testimony from the actual witnesses. The jury would be shown all the evidence and given an opportunity to ask questions and make credibility determinations.
Mr. Buccicone and I convened the grand jury in Le Center on November 4. The jury heard testimony from 21 witnesses over three days. At the end, we presented the jury with two charges to consider: Second-Degree Intentional Murder and Second-Degree Unintentional Murder. We also gave the jury instructions regarding the legal definition of authorized use of deadly force by a peace officer. After deliberating, the grand jury returned “no bills” on both charges, meaning that they did not indict Deputy Waldron for Mr. Heilman’s death.
Now that the grand jury is over and their decision is known, we can discuss the evidence gathered in the investigation. It is important to remember, however, that the grand jury proceedings are still secret. Thus, while we can comment on what witnesses told investigators, we cannot comment on anything that happened in the grand jury itself.
Factual Summary
Many of the early facts are not in significant dispute. On July 20, 2009, Tyler Heilman went swimming in Duck Lake with four friends: two adults and two juveniles. The water in Duck Lake was cold, so they left and drove to the public access point for the Minnesota River in Kasota. At some point during the day, they purchased a case of beer at a liquor store. Shortly after 3:00, they left the river and drove to the apartment building at 541 South Ridgley, where one of the juveniles live. Mr. Heilman was driving. He was wearing only swimming trunks. When speaking to investigators later, the vehicle’s occupants denied that Mr. Heilman drove recklessly, but each acknowledged that they left the road and drove up a grassy hill known locally as “Fireman’s Hill.” After driving up Fireman’s Hill, they proceeded to the apartments on South Ridgley.
At the same time, Deputy Waldron was on-duty and on his way to the South Ridgley apartments for an unrelated criminal investigation. As a plain clothed investigator, he was not wearing a uniform and was driving an unmarked SUV. He was, however, wearing a badge on his belt, and he had his duty weapon in a paddle holster on his right hip behind the badge. Deputy Waldron saw Mr. Heilman’s vehicle drive up Fireman’s Hill. Based on that and other driving conduct, he called for a marked squad car to respond. Deputy Waldron lost sight of Mr. Heilman’s vehicle over Fireman’s Hill, so he proceeded on to the South Ridgley apartments to conduct his original business. When he got there, he found Mr. Heilman’s vehicle parked in the parking lot next to the apartment building.
While many of the details of what happened next are disputed, this much is known: Deputy Waldron approached Mr. Heilman and demanded that Mr. Heilman show him his driver’s license. Mr. Heilman refused and began walking away. Deputy Waldron tried to restrain Mr. Heilman, and they ended up wrestling on the grass. During the altercation, Deputy Waldron took his service weapon and shot four times at Mr. Heilman. At least three and possibly four bullets hit Mr. Heilman. Mr. Heilman staggered along the wall, turned the corner and collapsed on the ground. Deputy Waldron called for medical assistance, and emergency personnel came, but efforts to revive Mr. Heilman were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Several witnesses, primarily Mr. Heilman’s friends, saw part or all of the altercation. Accounts of the wrestling match provided by these witnesses varied. One witness said that Mr. Heilman had Deputy Waldron in a headlock and was “choking him out,” though he said that it was to get Deputy Waldron off him. Other witnesses said that Deputy Waldron was the one who was winning the fight. Another said that they both had each other in a headlock. Yet another said that she saw the wrestling match but didn’t see either person choking the other. They all reported, however, that the two men separated and that Deputy Waldron shot Mr. Heilman multiple times. Some witnesses also reported that Mr. Heilman had his hands up and was walking backwards when he was shot. Witness estimates of how far the men were from each other when the shooting occurred range from 5 to 7 feet.
Deputy Waldron’s Statement
After the incident, Deputy Waldron gave a statement to investigators. He said that he called for a marked squad car because he saw Mr. Heilman’s vehicle swerving and traveling at an excessive speed. When he saw the vehicle again at the apartment building, he saw Mr. Heilman was standing outside facing him with his arms up as if Mr. Heilman was signaling something to him. Deputy Waldon got out and approached Mr. Heilman. As he approached, he saw Mr. Heilman look down at his badge and gun several times. He told Mr. Heilman that he was driving recklessly, and he demanded to see his driver’s license. Mr. Heilman refused, responding with an explicative and turning and walking away.
Deputy Waldron tried to restrain Mr. Heilman by using a wrist lock maneuver, but Mr. Heilman pulled away aggressively and turned and faced Deputy Waldron. Deputy Waldron told Mr. Heilman that he was under arrest and to get down on the ground. Mr. Heilman did not comply, so Deputy Waldron then tried to strike him with a closed fist. Mr. Heilman ducked, causing Deputy Waldron to miss. Deputy Waldron then grabbed Mr. Heilman in a bear hug, and both men fell to the ground. Deputy Waldron was on top and in control momentarily, but then he felt Mr. Heilman switch into an offensive, rather than resistive, mode, and he heard Mr. Heilman say, “Alright, now you’re going to get it, mother [explicative deleted.].” Mr. Heilman was then able to spin away and put Deputy Waldron in a headlock, with Deputy Waldron on his hands and knees and with Mr. Heilman’s legs spread out far behind him.
Deputy Waldron said that his air flow was restricted, that he began to see stars, and that he feared that he would soon become unconscious. He then looked down and saw that his gun and holster had come off his belt and were lying on the ground. He didn’t know whether they had fallen out or whether Mr. Heilman had knocked them out. Unable to break loose from the headlock, he feared that he would lose consciousness, and with his gun present, he feared for his life. Deputy Waldron then gabbed his gun and began shooting. He fired the first shot when he was still on the ground and with Mr. Heilman on top of him. He didn’t know whether this bullet hit Mr. Heilman. Deputy Waldron then shot three more times as he was getting up, and then he could see Mr. Heilman bleeding. Mr. Heilman walked backwards and hit the apartment building. Deputy Waldron ran to his vehicle and called for medical assistance. He then went to tend to Mr. Heilman. Emergency personnel came, but they were unable to revive Mr. Heilman.
After the incident, investigators noted that Deputy Waldron had three linear abrasions on the front of his neck and three dark bruises, consistent with finger marks, on the inside of his right bicep. He also had a light bruise on the inside of his left bicep. Other law enforcement officers who spoke with Deputy Waldron after the incident reported seeing redness around his neck.
Autopsy
An autopsy was conducted by Dr. Victor Froloff at the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office. Dr. Froloff determined that Mr. Heilman had two gunshot wounds to the chest and that both bullets struck his heart, one just nicking it and the other hitting it more substantially. Neither bullet left his body. In addition, Mr. Heilman had a graze wound on his left side and an entrance and exit wound on his left bicep. Dr. Froloff was not able to determine whether the graze wound and the wounds on the bicep were caused by the same bullet. It is his opinion that they could have been caused by the same bullet, but he couldn’t be certain. In addition, Mr. Heilman had a bruise on the left side of his neck, an abrasion by his left eye, and other small bruises on his lower back, biceps, and legs. Mr. Heilman also had a deep gash on the side of his third finger on his right hand.
The bullet wound on the right side of Mr. Heilman’s chest is particularly significant because it had stippling. Stippling is a burn caused by hot gas and powder escaping from the gun’s barrel. The presence of stippling indicates that it was a relatively close gunshot. Tests were later performed at the BCA with Dr. Froloff’s participation. Based on these tests, Dr. Froloff has given the opinion that the wound to the left chest occurred when Mr. Heilman was approximately 12 to 13 inches from the gun.
Toxicology tests showed that when he died Mr. Heilman had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.09. He also had active THC in his system as well as THC metabolite. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.
Bullet Trajectories
At the crime scene, BCA investigators found four empty bullet casings in the grassy area, and there were four bullets missing from Deputy Waldron’s gun. In addition to the two bullets recovered from Mr. Heilman’s body, there were two bullet holes in the side of the apartment building, one in the siding and the other in the window. The bullet that went through the window was traveling approximately parallel with the ground. The bullet that went through the siding was traveling at a very slight downward angle. The BCA agent in charge of the scene has expressed the opinion that assuming the bullet was shot from the grassy area, it was shot from a non-standing position.
Witness Statement
The day after the incident, a witness came forward and said that he saw the altercation. This witness told investigators that he happened to be driving by the apartment at 541 South Ridgley when he saw two men wrestling. One man was wearing a yellow shirt, and the other was wearing only shorts. When he saw the wrestling, he pulled over to the side of the road to watch because he considered it cheap entertainment. He said that the man in the yellow shirt was on his hands and knees and that the man in the shorts had him in a headlock. He also said that the man in the shorts had his legs spread out far away from the other man. This is the same body position that Deputy Waldron described in his statement. He said that the man on the ground was “getting his butt kicked” and that his face was “red as a beet.” He also said that the man in the shorts was reaching around to the other man’s back side and that the man on the ground was swatting his hand away. He said that he assumed at the time that the man in the shorts was trying to give the other man “a wedgie.”
The witness said that he was then distracted by a noise coming from another direction and that he looked away momentarily. When he did this, he heard what he thought were three gunshots in rapid succession. He looked back and saw the man in the yellow shirt with a gun outstretched, and he could see that the man in the shorts had been shot. He then saw the man in the shorts disappear around the corner of the apartment. He didn’t want to stick around for a shooting, so he took off in his truck. He decided to come forward when he saw a news story about the case the next morning on television. In the story, a young man was acting out what happened. He said that what the man was acting out was not the truth, so he decided to come forward.
Use of Force Expert: Chief Scott Bechthold
Under Minnesota law, peace officers are allowed to use deadly force if reasonably necessary to protect themselves from death or great bodily harm. As part of our work on this case, we hired a court-certified use-of-force expert, Scott Bechthold, Chief of Police for the Brooklyn Center Police Department, and asked him to render an opinion as to whether Deputy Waldron’s actions were reasonable. Chief Bechthold has trained peace officers in use-of-force issues, and he has testified as a use-of-force expert many times. Chief Bechthold issued a written opinion stating that if the facts are as Deputy Waldron described them, his use of force in this case was justified.
Conclusion
We know that there are and always will be different opinions about what happened on July 20. But no matter what else one believes, one thing is clear: This was a horrible, horrible tragedy. Mr. Heilman was a father, a son, a fiancé, and friend. There are many people who miss him, and everyone wishes that things had gone differently. But the only question that the grand jury had before it was whether there is probable cause to believe that Deputy Waldron’s actions constituted murder. The jury answered that question by saying, “No.” We will respect their decision. We hope that others do the same.
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This is a tragedy that will effect many people. The Heilman family and friends, the Waldren's family and friends as well as our own community.
Nothing will bring back Tyler, yet he will live on in our hearts and our memories as a son, a father and a friend. It is my hope and prayer that his son will not recall only the tragic circumstances of his fathers death but will know of the joy of his fathers life and this he can learn only from those who loved and knew Tyler.
At the same time nothing can change the fact that Todd will have to shoulder the burden of taking another man's life, something that will radically affect him and his family. A burden that not many people can know or even begin to understand, even when it is done in the line of one's duty.
It is my hope and prayer that Todd will know that he too is not alone and that there are those that still have full confidence in him as a father, a son, a friend and an officer of the law.
Martin Luther King Jr once said. “Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
For our community I pray that we will not be paralyzed with hate or polarized by the past, I cannot begin to know what either family is going through or has gone through, I only know that my heart goes out to them and my prayers will continually be with them.