Star Tribune
Trooper charged in fatal shooting of Black motorist to make first court appearance Monday
Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday afternoon after he was charged last week with murder and manslaughter in the fatal shooting of motorist Ricky Cobb II.
Londregan will appear before Hennepin County District Judge Tamara Garcia at 1:15 p.m.
He has remained out of custody since Wednesday when Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty filed charges of second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter in the July 31 shooting of Cobb, 33, of Plymouth. Moriarty said her office is not seeking bail, rather conditions of supervised release for Londregan.
It’s unclear if Garcia will order Lundregan to be booked today for mugshot or fingerprints.
Troopers pulled Cobb over on Interstate 94 for driving without taillights around 2 a.m.. They attempted to remove him from the vehicle after learning he’d been accused of violating a standing domestic order for protection.
Londregan, 27, who has less than two years of law enforcement experience, shot Cobb, 33, about 2:15 a.m. July 31 during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights. Troopers had tried placing Cobb under arrest for violating a domestic order for protection and attempted to remove him from the vehicle. As Cobb shifted into drive and took his foot off the brake, the car started moving, dragging another trooper and Londregan shot Cobb from the passenger side.
Londregan became a trooper trainee in February 2021 and was appointed seven months later, according to his public employee file. He remains on paid leave, according to the agency.
Defense attorney Chris Madel filed motions Wednesday asking to dismiss charges against Londregan because the trooper used deadly force to protect himself and a fellow trooper who was dragged by Cobb’s vehicle as it lurched forward during the stop.
Moriarty said when announcing the charges that the use-of-force was not justified and Lundregan violated trooper policy.
The State Patrol’s general orders of operation prohibit shooting at moving vehicles, except when deadly force is authorized. It says that firearms shall not be used “when there is substantial risk to the safety of other persons, including risks associated with vehicle crashes.”
Troopers “should make every effort not to place themselves in a position that would increase the possibility that the vehicle they are approaching can be used as a deadly weapon against them or others,” the policy states.
Fleeing, in itself, is not cause for deadly force, said Greg Hestness, former deputy chief of the Minneapolis Police Department and retired chief of the University of Minnesota Police Department.
In 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that under the Fourth Amendment, an officer may use deadly force to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect only if the officer believes the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.
Troopers rarely use deadly force. The only other killing by a trooper in recent years happened in April 2022. Megan Boser, a four-year member with the State Patrol, and Dale Haberer, with the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years, shot Charles Bangs, 59, outside of Bowlus, Minn.
Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf said that shooting was justified because Bangs was armed with a gun and pointed it at Boser. He cleared officers of any criminal liability.
The BCA said early on that at no point was Cobb seen holding a gun, although one was later recovered on the floor behind the center console.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
Minnesota may get snow Thursday. Here’s how much more the Halloween Blizzard Of 1991 dropped.
Suspect “led us to the evidence” in Montana camper’s brutal killing, initially thought to have been bear attack
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
Minnesota may get snow Thursday. Here’s how much more the Halloween Blizzard Of 1991 dropped.
Suspect “led us to the evidence” in Montana camper’s brutal killing, initially thought to have been bear attack