Star Tribune
Hennepin deputy shot in Minnetonka released from hospital
A Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputy shot in an exchange of gunfire while serving a warrant in Minnetonka has been released from the hospital.
Hundreds of emergency responders greeted deputy Christopher Heihn upon his discharge Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office. Heihn has worked for the HCSO for eight years but suffered “very serious injuries” when a gunman shot him and another deputy serving a warrant in Minnetonka Wednesday.
“Deputy Heihn is an integral part of our Sheriff’s Office family, and we honor his bravery and dedication to public safety,” a post by the sheriff’s office read. “Let’s continue to keep Deputy Heihn in our thoughts as he recovers, as well as all deputies, officers, and emergency responders involved as they continue to process a tremendously difficult situation.”
Information released so far suggests that deputies were serving the warrant in the west metro suburb Wednesday morning when shooting broke out. One deputy, who has not yet been identified, was injured and released at the scene. Heihn was taken to the hospital. The shooter died at the scene, but it’s unclear if he was killed by officers or took his own life. Family identified the shooter as Clint Hoyhtya, saying the 28-year-old man died from “suicide by cop.” Dispatch audio and a law enforcement source also confirmed that Hoyhtya was not the subject of Wednesday’s warrant.
“Police shot the wrong guy,” Thomas Hoyhtya, the man’s father who owns the home told the Star Tribune Thursday. “They kicked in the door, he was in the back and probably playing video games. It was his day off.”
Hoyhtya was described on dispatch audio as wearing body armor and had an “AK variant,” a reference to a high-powered firearm, next to his body following the gunfire.
“Suspect is down in the yard, he was firing at us in the end, giving him commands at this time,” according to the audio, which also relayed a lengthy scene in which Hoyhtya’s body remained in the yard until law enforcement could determine with robots and cameras that no one else was in the home.
Authorities declined to confirm what led to the shooting or who fired first.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating. They could share an update by early next week.
Star Tribune staff writers Paul Walsh, Abby Simons, Andy Mannix and Briana Bierschbach contributed to this report.
Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.
“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
