MAPLETON, N.D. — A man going through a mental health crisis was shot and killed by police after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement in Mapleton on Monday, Aug. 1, according to Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner.
Deputies first responded to the area of Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue North in Mapleton for a shots-fired call around 10:30 a.m. Around the same time, Jahner said, they received a report of a person in the same area who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
As officers arrived, they reported hearing more gunshots, Jahner said, adding no shots were fired at officers.
The Sheriff's Office then issued a shelter-in-place order for the city, telling residents to remain indoors, and set up a perimeter in the area.
13-year-old Jadyn Jacobson was drying out a tent with her dad in the backyard of their home just down the street when the first shots were fired. Police came and told them to go inside, lock the doors and close the curtains.
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"It was a little scary, you didn't know if the dude would run up and shoot," she said.
Authorities attempted to make contact with an individual inside a home, Jahner said, noting they had "on and off" negotiations with the individual throughout the day.
At a press conference Monday evening, Jahner said his department learned there was an alleged criminal activity that had occurred earlier in the morning prior to the arrival of law enforcement.
"It may have contributed to the responsible's actions and mental state," Jahner said.
The individual's father and brother were also on scene and Jahner said they were there assisting with the negotiation.
After several attempts to get the individual to come out of the home unarmed, the man told the negotiator, who was a member of the Cass County Sheriff's Office, that he would be coming outside with a firearm, Jahner said.
Around 3 p.m., the individual left the home while carrying a firearm, described as a rifle, before multiple officers fired at and killed the individual, Jahner said.
Four officers discharged their weapons during the incident, Jahner said at the press conference. The officers involved were members of the Metro Area Street Crimes Unit, a group involving the Cass County Sheriff's Office, Clay County Sheriff's Office, Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead police.
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"All four officers are with the Fargo Police Department," Jahner said, adding those officers are now on administrative leave.
Those four officers account for four of the unit's nine officers. Jahner said that will have an impact on the unit until the officers can return to duty.
"We can certainly make some adjustments and move other people on there, we have some past officers who have served in that capacity so far," explained Jahner.
He said no law enforcement officials were injured, and that it's unclear if the person ever fired at police.
"Anytime that we have an incident where law enforcement has to engage someone with any type of force, those are tough situations," Jahner said.
A victim witness associate has been assigned to the family of the deceased to "try and get through this difficult time," Jahner said.
This is the third officer-involved shooting over the past month in the surrounding area.
A Fargo officer shot and killed 28-year-old Shane Netterville in Fargo on July 8, while a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper shot 28-year-old Maichael Yousa following a police chase on July 19 in Fargo. Yousa was not seriously injured by the gunfire.
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"It's definitely tough, especially when you have this many back-to-back," Jahner said. "What's important is how we move forward from these incidents."
The North Dakota Highway Patrol, Fargo and West Fargo police, along with Fargo and West Fargo fire departments all assisted at the scene.
Names of the officers involved in the shooting, along with individual killed will be released at a later date.
The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting.
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