Family: St. Paul Man Dead After Being Shot By Police
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The family of a St. Paul man, who had struggled with mental illness, say he is dead after being shot by police Thursday night.
The fatal shooting of Phillip Quinn happened at about 6 p.m. on the 600 block of Canton Street in St. Paul.
WCCO's Liz Collin spoke with Quinn's family, who said he had recently been released from the hospital for mental health issues.
The sister of Quinn's fiancé acknowledged the 30-year-old man had been in trouble with police in the past, but she says his schizophrenia is to blame.
"It could have been prevented, period," she said.
He'd just been released from a hospital last week.
"He was on a waiting list for an in-patient mental health bed," she said.
St. Paul police were called to the neighborhood Thursday.
"There were a bunch of police officers in our alley [looking for] a guy who was freaking out and going crazy," neighbor Scott Lehn said.
The family said police couldn't find him and left. They were called again by Quinn's mother after he started cutting himself, leading up to a deadly confrontation.
"Whatever was in his hand, he would not drop," the fiancé's sister said. "My sister [Quinn's fiancé] said he was given a command and within seconds afterward she heard four to six shots."
Chaplin police talked with friends and family as a neighbor held Quinn's 3-month-old baby.
"This is a very active, very ongoing and fluid investigation," a police spokesman said.
The officer who shot Quinn has been placed on three-day paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in the St. Paul Police Department.
