May 2—RED WING, Minn. — A Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office investigator has been cleared in the shooting of a Red Wing man last year.
Steve Sutton-Brown shot Fernando Javier Carbajal
three times after Carbajal assaulted the investigator in Red Wing on Nov. 22, 2022.
Carbajal was treated and released from the hospital the day after the shooting.
He faces several charges related to the incident
and is expected to appear in court on May 17.
“When you put everything together, the nature of and circumstances of the charged offense, his alleged statements, as well as his actions that day, support a finding that the defendant was actively trying to commit suicide or suicide by cop,” Assistant Goodhue County Attorney Erin Lousie Kuester said in court last year.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension completed an investigation into the shooting, a standard practice for police shootings in Minnesota, and submitted its findings to the Goodhue County Attorney’s Office, which asked the Stearns County Attorney’s Office to review the investigation.
“The Stearns County Attorney’s Office reviewed the information and concluded that the use of deadly force by Investigator Steve Sutton-Brown was justified. Specifically, the Stearns County Attorney found that criminal charges were not supported in this case because Minnesota law permits officers to use deadly force when necessary to protect the officer from apparent death or great bodily harm,” a statement from the GCSO reads.
The Sheriff’s Office also completed an internal review and cleared Sutton-Brown to return to full duty.
There is no body camera or squad camera footage of the incident, according to the BCA.