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BCA Details Hours-Long Duluth Standoff That Ended With Suspect, K-9 Dead

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has identified the law enforcement members involved in last week's deadly hours-long standoff at a Duluth apartment building.

Investigators say David Conwell, 37, shot at law enforcement twice, and twice they shot back. He survived both of those exchanges. The third time Conwell raised his gun proved fatal. In total, eight officers fired weapons -- two of them "less than lethal" -- during the incident, according to the BCA. None of them were injured, but Conwell did shoot and kill a K-9 named Luna.

Conwell died of multiple gunshot wounds, the BCA said Tuesday.

Duluth police officers Dean Bauers, Logan Goss and Ian Johnson and Sgt. Mike Erickson all shot at Conwell but did not hit him, the BCA said. Also from that department, Aaron Haller deployed the K-9 who was killed.

Two sergeants with the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office -- Miles Bruggman and Benjamin Fye -- fired at Conwell in the exchange that ultimately killed him, according to the BCA. Two deputies -- Troy Nichols and Martin Thorne -- shot less-lethal rounds at Conwell.

The BCA said the incident began around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 25 when Duluth police responded to a 911 call about a possible domestic assault.

Officers spoke to a woman in the apartment and "could not determine whether an assault took place," the BCA said. The officers, determining a man in the apartment later identified as Conwell had felony warrants, entered the apartment to arrest him.

They found him in a bedroom closet, and K-9 Luna was deployed. Conwell fatally shot Luna, and officers returned fire. They continued shooting as they left the apartment. Conwell was apparently not struck at that time.

Duluth's Tactical Response Team arrived on scene and, over several hours, tried communicating with Conwell and used chemical irritants to try to get him out of the apartment.

Around 3 a.m. Feb. 26, response team members entered the apartment. The BCA said Conwell emerged from the closet and shot at the response team. They fired back and retreated, and Conwell once again escaped harm.

After 10 hours, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office showed up. They once again tried chemical irritants, and around 4 p.m. they entered the apartment.

The lawmen took out a section of the closet's exterior wall, and the BCA said Conwell jumped through the hole and pointed his gun at them. Bruggman and Fye shot their rifles and Nichols and Thorne fired the less-lethal rounds. It was in this exchange Conwell was killed.

The BCA is still investigating the incident, and said parts of it were captured by police body cameras.

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