POLICE DEFEND SHOOTING DURING DRUG STING

Minneapolis police on Wednesday defended officers' actions in the fatal
shooting of an alleged drug dealer Tuesday night in downtown St. Paul. The
chief and union president said the man was shot while using his car as a
lethal weapon during an attempted getaway.

Three officers opened fire as one was being dragged, with his coat
apparently hooked on the external rearview mirror, and another was bumped
and tossed onto the car hood, said Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the
Minneapolis Police Officers Federation.

James C. Fye, 29, of St. Paul, was shot multiple times in the upper body,
yet his car careered about four blocks before crashing into a church wall,
St. Paul police said. Fye, a convicted killer, was pronounced dead at
Regions Hospital.

His passenger, Michael W. Ivory, 39, of St. Paul, is recovering from a
gunshot to the shoulder.

St. Paul police said they found no drugs or guns in the car. But they found
small amounts of marijuana and methamphetamine when they searched Fye's
apartment in the 900 block of Randolph Av. late Tuesday, police said.

The officers who fired were identified Wednesday as Aaron Morrison, whose
coat was hooked; Scott Ramsdell, who was thrown onto the hood, and Michael
Kaneko, who was standing near the car.

Minneapolis police records show that each has a clean record. Kaneko, who
joined the force six years ago, has received a medal of commendation, two
other awards and 10 letters of appreciation. Morrison and Ramsdell, sworn
in two years and seven months ago, have each received a letter of recognition.

The shooting occurred while a team of officers from Minneapolis, assisted
by St. Paul police, were on an undercover drug buy. It had been arranged
between Ivory and an officer in the Third Precinct's community response
team, which investigates street-level drug dealing, among other duties,
Chief Robert Olson said.

The officers didn't know who the alleged drug dealer was and had no idea
that Fye had served time in prison for bludgeoning a man to death nine
years ago, Minneapolis police said Wednesday.

Fye is the fifth person shot to death by Minneapolis police in the past 12
months, and the third man killed this year after allegedly driving a car
toward police.

It is only when a vehicle is being used with the probability of great
bodily harm to an officer or innocent person that the use of deadly force
is justified, Olson said Wednesday.

On average, Minneapolis police fatally shoot about one person a year.

"We're always looking at what can we do better to maintain officer safety,
and at the same time minimize the possibility of an innocent person or even
the suspect being injured," the chief said.

"We're going to be doing that again and, I hope, take a hard look at all of
these things this year. It's just a tragic circumstance that we've had so
many of them."

St. Paul police are investigating the shooting and will present their
findings to the Ramsey County attorney's office before a grand jury reviews it.

Michael Jordan, the St. Paul police spokesman, said the Minneapolis
officers fired about 20 shots at the fleeing suspects. He said
investigators still don't know the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Some of the Minneapolis officers who were at the scene are to be
interviewed by St. Paul police investigators Friday. The officers who fired
shots will be interviewed later, Delmonico said. He said the officers were
advised not to speak to investigators immediately after the shooting, in
part because traumatic events can affect the memory.

"The cops have rights as anybody else does," he said.

Minneapolis officers contacted St. Paul police at 6:19 p.m. Tuesday and
told them they were in the city for the drug buy, on which they had been
working for months.

Olson said Ivory told an undercover officer that Minneapolis was "too hot"
with police and that he wanted to conduct the drug sale in a public place.
Mickey's Diner in downtown St. Paul was chosen.

Two St. Paul officers were dispatched to meet with the Minneapolis cops
near the diner at W. 7th and St. Peter Sts. about 6:25 p.m.

The St. Paul cops were told about what was happening. Then by about 6:30
p.m., they were sent about two blocks away on St. Peter St. to serve as
backups, Jordan said.

One of the undercover Minneapolis agents was wearing a microphone to record
the transaction, and the St. Paul officers were given a portable radio to
listen to the deal.

Minneapolis officers who were posing as drug buyers arrived in the diner's
lot in a pickup truck. Other plainclothes officers were nearby. At least 10
Minneapolis officers were on the scene.

They had previously decided not to follow the suspects to another location
because of concern that officers could be led into danger, Minneapolis
police said. But the dealers told the officers that they wanted to go
elsewhere because a lot of cops are typically in the area, police said.

Olson said the transaction was to involve a half-pound to pound of
high-grade marijuana. After the sellers indicated they had the marijuana,
police decided to arrest them, he said.

Delmonico said that when the other undercover officers converged on the
lot, Fye backed up in the car and hesitated for a moment.

He revved the engine and squealed the tires, hooking Morrison and bumping
Ramsdell, Delmonico said.

Tyrone Robinson, 38, of St. Paul, said he saw the small blue car back up as
six officers surrounded it and others rushed toward them. Officers
repeatedly told the man to stop, but he sped toward two officers in front
of the car, throwing one onto the hood.

Another officer appeared to be clinging to the rearview mirror, kicking his
legs out from under him to keep from being run over, Robinson said.

"I saw his right arm holding him up for dear life, and the car just kept
burning rubber," Robinson said. "That's when the rest of them shot into the
car. When he regained control of his legs, he stood up and fired shots
through the side of the car."

Fye drove into the street, spun around and drove the wrong way on the
eastbound lanes of 7th, which is divided by a median, police said.

The car crashed into the side of the Free at Last Church of God in Christ
on W. 7th, where services were underway. Parishioners rushed out of the church.

At least one man told police that he had seen the passenger, Ivory,
reaching for a shotgun in the front seat. Jordan, however, said that no
weapons have been found and that he doesn't believe that the two men would
have had time to dispose of a weapon, given the number of police officers
observing them.

Ivory's criminal record includes convictions for drugs, robbery, forgery
and burglary.

In 1991, Fye was convicted of beating a 22-year-old St. Paul man to death
following a drinking party in a riverbank cave. He hit Shay King at least
five times in the head with a beer keg tap while two 15-year-old boys beat
him with an empty keg. Fye later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and
was sentenced to nine years in prison.