Man shot by St. Paul officers charged with assault, illegal firearm possession

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minneapolis police say a man who was critically injured after being shot by St. Paul police officers on Monday night is a suspect in separate shootings that occurred within 48 hours, one of which left two men dead.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 40-year-old Earl Bennett was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after he was shot near University and Snelling avenues, one of the city’s busiest intersections.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday afternoon that Bennett is now charged with second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection to Monday’s armed encounter with officers.
According to the criminal complaint, Bennett is also a suspect in Monday’s shooting in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood that left a man with “potentially-life-threatening injuries,” Minneapolis police say.
Investigators say bullet casings from the Powderhorn shooting matched the handgun St. Paul police recovered from Bennett.
Minneapolis police say Bennett is also suspected of fatally shooting two men and critically wounding a woman in a small homeless encampment on Sunday in the city’s Hiawatha neighborhood. 
The criminal complaint states Bennett has eight previous felony convictions: five for first-degree aggravated robberies, one for receiving stolen property, one for fleeing police and one for an attempted escape from custody. 
Just before 7:45 p.m., officers responded to a shots fired call, finding a man with a gun — later identified as Bennett — near Snelling and Charles avenues, according to the St. Paul Police Department.
As officers approached, Bennett pointed the gun to his head, police said. Officers began talking with him, trying to get him to surrender, but he then started walking south down Snelling. Once he reached the Snelling and University area, he began walking around in the intersection, according to police.
Police said officers fired “less lethal” rounds at Bennett to try and get him to surrender, but he still wouldn’t.
Bennett then pointed his gun at police, according to the department and witnesses, and that’s when officers shot him.
Officials say at the time the area was busy with cars and pedestrians. The intersection has been a point of contention, as many people who live and work there say the area is a hotbed of crime. Earlier this month, community members grilled politicians at a town hall about how to clean up the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.  
“It has been a challenging area. It’s one of our busiest intersections in this city and it has been for years,” Sgt. Mike Ernster with the St. Paul Police Department said. “It has a major artery in the area. Snelling has a rapid bus line through there. We have the Green Line and University just tends to be a very high-volume traffic area.”   
St. Paul police said all officers were wearing body cameras that were working at the time. They have all been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure. The BCA is leading the investigation.  
On Tuesday morning, community activists gathered to call on police to release the unedited body camera video. By law, the video will be released within the next two weeks, but the activists want it even sooner.
“Melvin Carter, we are asking you, we are telling you, we are demanding you as the mayor to move as a leader. We don’t want to hear any excuse, that there’s an investigation. The investigation is over when you release the footage,” said Toshira Garraway with Communities United Against Police Brutality. “We need that. Our community is in pain, we can no longer allow time to go by where we don’t have answers.”
WCCO reached out to the mayor’s office on Tuesday and are awaiting a response.
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