Family Identifies Man Shot By Police In Mpls. City Hall

MINNNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minneapolis Police Federation said the actions of officers during a shooting inside Minneapolis City Hall saved a young man who was trying to take his own life.

Family tells WCCO 18-year-old Marcus Fischer is the person the police shot Monday afternoon.

Sources tell WCCO Fischer had a knife and was hurting himself prior to the shooting. They also say Fischer lunged at police.

Doctors told his dad, Eric Fischer, that Marcus slit his throat, wrists and stabbed himself in the chest.

"For them to shoot him, that's the part that bothers me, I don't get it," Eric Fischer said. "You guys have Tasers. If he's already cut himself and stabbed himself and everything like that, why shoot him? Why didn't you just tase him, take him to the hospital, put him in the nutty bin for a little bit?"

Eric Fischer said he has never known his son to be suicidal. He thinks he cut himself to avoid going to jail. He says he was able to see his son for 10 minutes Tuesday night, who is sedated and in police custody at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Police executed a search warrant at the home where Marcus lives Tuesday. His aunt, Lynette Archambault, feels frustrated by a lack of answers.

"Why? Why? I might lose my nephew and I want to know why. Police ain't telling us nothing. They come and they raid our house, they don't tell why they raided our house," Archambault said. "They took some stuff out in paper bags, I don't know what it is."

Minneapolis Police Federation's Lt. Bob Kroll said officers acted heroically when dealing with a suspect who tried to take his own life.

"Instead of taking a life, they saved a life. No question about it," Kroll said. "He had just confessed to a shooting, and the investigator went to get him a water and came back, and he was attempting to take his life, and the officers tried to talk him out. And after a lengthy time period had to intervene in order to save him, and he did not want to be saved."

Kroll said the injuries that were most life threatening for Fischer were self-inflicted.

"The officers did de-escalation techniques as long as they could, and at some point had to intervene … in order to save the man's life," Kroll said.

Cory Byrd is a mental health practitioner who works with kids inside Minneapolis and St Paul public schools. He knows Marcus Fischer, and has questions for police.

"I'm highly upset, man. This is a child," Byrd said. "Shooting a child who was cutting himself screams out mental health all day long. Would it have been the same if he was cutting himself at the hospital? How do you get in the police [station] with a knife? I mean, how do you do that?"

There are cameras inside the interrogation room where the shooting happened. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is in possession of the recordings.

Kroll said he hopes the videos will be released soon to show officers did everything right to preserve life.

WCCO spotted a red sign inside those interrogation rooms on Tuesday morning that said "Anyone Entering This Secured Area Is Subject To Search," but we did not see any metal detectors.

It is still unclear what security precautions were taken before the shooting.

"There are certain protocols that we take into account as we're in certain modes of an investigation, arrest modes," said Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo. "I don't know all the details regarding this specific individual that was being questioned. Again, that'll come out in the BCA investigation."

The officers involved have been placed on standard administrative leave, which is typical in a case like this.