Brent* was a 23 year old EMT and firefighter with the City of Lake Elmo. He was also a son, a brother, and a father to a young daughter.
In April of 2018, Brent experienced a mental health crisis. When Brent expressed suicidal thoughts to his close friends, they called 911 for a welfare check. Several deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene shortly after midnight. They found Brent kneeling in a crosswalk in Lake Elmo, holding a gun to his head.
Several Deputies used crisis intervention techniques to de-escalate the situation. During the crisis intervention, Brent gave up the magazine clip from his gun, praised the deputies’ professionalism, and assured them that he would not hurt them. But he kept one bullet in the gun’s chamber and kept the gun pointed at his own head.
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After 40 Minutes of crisis intervention, a Deputy opened fire. The Deputy shot Brent 7 times, killing him. No other deputy fired. Video recordings of the encounter show that Brent never pointed his gun at the Deputy or anyone besides himself. Even so, the Deputy said Brent “indirectly” pointed his gun at officers by holding the gun to his own head. The Deputy claimed that a bullet could have travelled through Brent’s head to hit a deputy as they stood 15 yards away.
Brent’s father, Walter*, wanted to hold the Deputy accountable. He retained a Rochester law firm in 2018. In 2022, after years of litigation, the Deputy’s legal team brought for a Motion for Summary Judgment. If successful, the motion would dismiss the case before Walter could have his day in court.
Enter Madia Law. The Rochester firm (Sandberg Law Office) reached out to Madia Law in 2022 to request our assistance in beating summary judgment. We got work, and accomplished our mission.
We continued to litigate the case right up to the eve of trial. Just 2 weeks before trial, Walter agreed to settle the case for $4.5 million dollars.
No amount of money can ever bring Brent back. But we are hopeful that this important settlement will encourage police departments to improve their training and respond more appropriately to mental health crises.
Madia Law was honored to serve Brent’s family.
*Original names omitted.
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