Ramsey Co. Atty's Office Finds Shooting Of William Hughes Justified

Note: Video is from a previous story.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- No charges will be filed in an early August fatal police officer-involved shooting in St. Paul.

On Friday, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office announced that criminal charges are not warranted in the fatal shooting of William Hughes on Aug. 5, 2018.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi says the use of deadly force by St. Paul police officers Vincent Adams and Matthew Jones was "objectively reasonable given all of the circumstances that they knew, heard and saw before firing their weapons."

On the day of the incident, police were dispatched at about 2:30 a.m. on a report that someone was shooting a gun inside a triplex in the Rondo neighborhood. Officers encountered a man with a gun on the 900 block of St. Anthony Avenue, and the man was shot and killed.

The body camera footage shows officers approaching the house and entering an enclosed porch. Officer Adams knocks on an interior door in the front porch. A man can be heard in the footage saying, "I will kill you."

Hughes opens the interior door a few seconds later and raises a gun in a sweeping fashion over the officers. Officer Adams yells at Hughes to "Put your hands up!" Hughes puts his hands up, with handgun in his right hand. Hughes is shot multiple times, and an officer said "God d****t. Shots fired."

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter released a statement in support of the decision:

"I support County Attorney Choi's decision to forego charges against Officers Adams and Jones, who were called to respond to a situation most of us will fortunately never encounter. This tragedy has touched our entire city. My heart goes out to Mr. Hughes' family and friends, to Officers Adams and Jones, and to all in our community who mourn the loss of Billy Hughes. Officers must make split-second decisions without the benefits of rewind or instant replay. No training nor de-escalation technique could have guaranteed a peaceful resolution to the terrifying scene portrayed on body cam footage. I thank the Saint Paul Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Ramsey County Attorney's Office for their diligent partnership to ensure our community a thorough, transparent and timely investigation."

Adams and Jones are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.

In a 19-page memorandum, the attorney's office concluded that the use of force by the officers was legally justified under Minnesota law.