Today's Most Popular Video
Nov 3, 2009 10:08 pm US/Central
Friends Of Man Shot By Cop Want Answers
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (WCCO) ―
-
-
Jason Martin, seen here with his wife, was shot multiple times and killed by an off-duty officer. Police are investigating.
CBS
A St. Louis Park police officer is on leave tonight after a fight left one man dead. Police say Officer John Herman had just finished with work when he saw Jason Martin's truck swerving before it stopped. They then say Herman and Martin fought before Martin was shot multiple times.
It happened around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Minnetonka and Raleigh avenues in St. Louis Park. Martin's friends said he and his friend, Karl Foster, were on their way home from the casino.
"Still in shock, I don't really believe it," Ryan Provos said.
Martin left the Marines more than a year ago. He was supporting his 5-year-old daughter as a construction worker, working on his relationship with his wife and living with friends.
After watching the World Series and Monday Night Football on TV, roommate Courtney Olson said Martin left the house. She would later learn he'd gone to the casino with Foster.
On Tuesday night, Foster told Olson that he had been driving Martin's truck through St. Louis Park when they hit a construction zone. He said a traffic cone got stuck in the wheel, so Foster stopped the truck to get it out. Foster got out of the car and said Martin stayed inside.
"He was underneath the vehicle, that's what he told me and that he was grabbing the cone out and then there was an altercation," Olson said. "The cop came up, didn't identify himself as a cop, then he heard three gun shots."
Police said Herman had been in his personal car, but wouldn't say if he was still in uniform. He was hurt in the fight, but police wouldn't say how.
Martin's friends just don't understand how their friend could have been shot in the middle of the night. They said he didn't have a gun.
"Broken up, torn," Provos said. "Don't know why it happened."
Herman is now on paid administrative leave, which is standard in a case like this. He has been with the police department for five and a half years and the St. Louis Park Police Department said he has a good, clean record.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating this case.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Letters To Santa Sent To Sex Offender?
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
