An investigation continued Monday into a fatal officer-involved shooting that left a man dead outside an apartment complex in Eagan over the weekend.
A family member identified the deceased as Justin Kulhanek-Derks, a 37-year-old who lived in the building. Authorities have not released the man’s name.
Eagan police were called to Forest Ridge Townhomes in the 1200 block of Ironwood Lane around noon Sunday on a report that a man was firing a gun outside the building, according to Aaron Machtemes, a police department spokesman.
“At one point, one of the callers said (the man) had started shooting at the building itself,” Machtemes said.
When officers arrived at the scene, an “exchange of gunfire” took place that left the man dead, Machtemes said.
He declined to elaborate further, citing that the case was under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
“There was an exchange of gunfire but I cannot speak to who fired first or how many shots were fired. … The BCA is investigating that,” Machtemes said.
No officers were injured at the scene, and no other suspects were involved, Machtemes said. Three officers who responded to the call were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard after an officer-involved shooting.
The family member who identified Kulhanek-Derks on Monday declined to comment further.
RAISING HIS DAUGHTER
Court records indicate Kulhanek-Derks filed for divorce in 2007 and has one daughter.
His criminal record includes two convictions, one for disorderly conduct in 2015 and another for driving while intoxicated in 1998.
Lexie Scott, a 15-year-old who lives at Forest Ridge Townhomes, said Kulhanek-Derks was raising his teenage daughter on his own at a neighboring unit in the complex.
Scott described the young teen as a best friend, saying the two have been almost inseparable since the girl moved into the complex with Kulhanek-Derks about a year ago.
Both attend Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights.
Lexie Scott’s mom, Laura Scott, said she initially assumed she was hearing a nail gun when she heard two shots ring out Sunday afternoon. But then she heard police sirens.
When she saw them surround Kulhanek-Derks’ car outside the townhouses, she said she knew she had to wake her daughter.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in with me yet. … We just have so many things going through our heads trying to understand what happened,” Laura Scott said.
RECENT BREAK UP
Both Laura and Lexie Scott said they suspect a collision of difficult circumstances and poor coping mechanisms contributed to their neighbor’s death.
They said Kulhanek-Derks’ girlfriend had recently ended her relationship with him, which reportedly sent him spiraling into an alcohol-fueled depression.
Just days before the shooting, they said, he started fretting about losing custody of his daughter. He spoke of hurting himself or someone else, they said.
His actions reportedly prompted his daughter to stay with her grandmother over the weekend.
“I think between the alcohol, the depression and the heartache, he just snapped,” Laura Scott said.
Both she and her daughter said the behavior was out of character for Kulhanek-Derks, whom they described as an otherwise happy and attentive father. He liked to play the guitar and listen to music, especially Nirvana, and most of all loved spending time with his daughter.
“She was his everything,” said Lexie Scott, who called her friend to let her know about the shooting.
“She is missing him a lot,” Scott said. “I asked her if she needed anything from me. She just said, ‘I want my dad to be alive.’ ”
QUIET COMMUNITY
The incident shocked other residents who live in what was described as a peaceful neighborhood.
“I am a lifelong Eaganite, and we rarely have an incident like this,” said Jim Carlson, the state senator for District 51, which includes Eagan. Carlson was knocking on doors with a group of volunteers when the shooting erupted nearby.
On police-scanner audio recording of the incident, a dispatcher is heard saying, “He is outside with a gun, looks like a silver Glock … couple callers on it now; they heard three to four gunshots … Party is shooting up in the air toward an apartment building. … Suspect is reloading his gun, vehicle is pulling out; SHOTS FIRED!”
A spokesperson with the BCA said the agency hoped to release additional information about what happened soon.