Prosecutor: No charges against marshals in Uptown shooting of Winston Boogie Smith

The undercover officers who fatally shot Winston Boogie Smith Jr. in a vehicle atop an Uptown Minneapolis parking ramp last summer won't face criminal charges because Smith drew a handgun on them and fired, the Crow Wing County attorney announced Monday.

"Though I am unable to determine who fired first, it is irrelevant in this case," Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan wrote in a letter to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman dated Oct. 6, but released Monday. "Once an individual initiates a deadly force confrontation, a law enforcement officer does not have to wait to be shot/shot at reaction."

Smith was shot June 3 by two members of the U.S. Marshals Service's Northstar Violent Offender Task Force, which was attempting to arrest him on a warrant for being a felon in possession of a gun. Ryan didn't identify the task force members who shot Smith or their home agencies.

https://www.startribune.com/prosecutor-no-charges-against-marshals-in-uptown-shooting-of-winston-boogie-smith/600105635/