Cop fired five bullets in wrong house after 911 call

A deputy in Scott County, Minnesota, responding to a 911 call of a domestic dispute, burst into a house and, when the occupants yelled that they had a gun, fired several shots. The house, however, was the wrong house.

The call had come from a second small building on the property. No one was injured in the shooting.

"My impression is they thought that somebody was breaking into their house," Scott County Sheriff Kevin Studnicka said. "They didn't realize it was a deputy."

Studnicka said the deputy was sent to the address to respond to the disturbance call. A knock on the door of the house went unanswered, so he forced his way. Two men living in the house announced they had a gun, and the deputy fired.

The deputy then left the house, and the residents called 911 to report a break-in.

A patrol sergeant en route to the address realized the miscommunication and spoke to the two men living in the house when he arrived. The men in the house did not know that people in the other building behind their house had called 911.

Joe Toivola said Monday that his ex-girlfriend, who had been staying with him in the small house, had called 911 to report a domestic dispute. But instead of responding to that residence, the deputy went to the house in front of it.

Toivola's roommate, Justin Ashton, said he noticed that the deputy had gone to the house and tried, unsuccessfully, to wave him toward the other residence. Toivola said it was at least half an hour later before anyone from the Sheriff's Office came to the right home.

Toivola said he saw five bullet holes in the walls of the house, including three going up the stairs, when he visited the men Monday. "They went through hell up there," Toivola said. "I would have felt really bad if something bad had happened to them."

The deputy, whose name Studnicka would not release, is on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office. Studnicka declined to speculate on why the deputy fired but said it seemed logical that he would go to the house, not the outbuilding, when called to the address.

"I don't know exactly what it is that he saw," Studnicka said. "If he felt that at some point in time he may be in a dangerous situation, he's going to draw his weapon."

Neither Toivola nor his girlfriend were arrested in connection with the domestic dispute call.

The incident comes just weeks after the city of Minneapolis agreed to a settlement of more than $600,000 for a raid on the wrong residence in 2007. In that instance, the SWAT team, acting on wrong information, exchanged fire with Vang Khan in his north Minneapolis home. Khan thought the officers were criminal intruders.

Toivola said he saw five bullet holes in the walls of the house, including three going up the stairs, when he visited the men Monday.

"They went through hell up there," Toivola said. "I would have felt really bad if something bad had happened to them."

Neither Friedges nor the occupants of the house could be reached for comment Monday.

The deputy, whose name Studnicka would not release, is on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office.

Studnicka declined to speculate on why the deputy fired but said it seemed logical that he would go to the house, not the outbuilding, when called to the address.

"I don't know exactly what it is that he saw," Studnicka said. "If he felt that at some point in time he may be in a dangerous situation, he's going to draw his weapon."

Neither Toivola nor his girlfriend were arrested in connection with the domestic dispute call.

The incident comes just weeks after the city of Minneapolis agreed to a settlement of more than $600,000 for a raid on the wrong residence in 2007. In that instance, the SWAT team, acting on wrong information, exchanged fire with Vang Khan in his north Minneapolis home. Khan thought the officers were criminal intruders. (info from Minneapolis Star-Tribune)