Police Ruled Justified in December Officer-Involved Shooting in Gilbert

One Person Killed in Incident

GILBERT, Minn.-Two police officers in St. Louis County have been ruled justified in an officer-involved shooting Dec. 22 in Gilbert.

According to a report from county attorney Mark Rubin, St. Louis County deputy Derrick Deutsch and Gilbert police officer Joseph Bradach were in a situation where they needed to use deadly force.

The two officers exchanged gunfire in the incident which caused the death of Jeffrey Golnick. Deputy Deutsch was shot by Golnick during the exchange and received a non-life threatening wound.

According to the county attorney, the incident all began at a residence at 112 W. Michigan Ave., where police were looking to arrest a woman on an active warrant. Eventually, a man was seen leaving the back of the house and ran when he saw the police.

The pursuit went into an ally and suspect was then seen falling to the ground while reaching in his waistband. The deputy then fell to the ground and saw Golnick get up and point a gun at him.

After the suspect was asked to “show me your hands,” deputy Deutsch fired three rounds at Golnick while the suspect fired back nearly simultaneously – the shots dropped the suspect to the ground, while the deputy was struck in the buttocks.

After all this, Golnick still refused to drop his weapon after being giving verbal commands to do so by deputy Deutsch and officer Bradach. Golnick again began moving his aim at the police. Then each officer fired at the suspect, striking and killing him.

An eyewitness to the scene also said they saw Golnick reach into his pants to pull out the gun and point it at the officers.

Golnick was found with an ounce of methamphetamine on him. The drug was also found in his blood after an autopsy.

The suspect had previously been in jail for assault in the fire-degree after firing shots at Virginia police officers back in 2005, during a search warrant execution.