Warning: Some may find the following video disturbing.
Body cam footage was released after a Dakota County grand jury determined Tuesday that the shooting death of a knife-wielding man in March by three police officers was justified.
The nearly seven-minute video showed 38-year-old Map Kong as he sat in his Pontiac Sunfire outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in Burnsville, Minnesota, on March 17.
Around 6:15 a.m., Kong can clearly be seen flailing about in his vehicle, bouncing around while holding a large knife. Officers repeatedly told Kong to drop the knife, but their demands were ignored.
Slowly, the officers inched closer to Kong’s car as they spoke amongst themselves about the situation at hand.
“We can hold off a little bit here. We can bust the window and tase him if you want,” one officer was heard saying, then adding, “If he gets out, I’ll go lethal.”
“This is going to go badly, either way,” another officer said.
“Yeah it is,” another officer agreed.
Finally, after several minutes of attempting to disarm Kong on his own accord, officers moved in and broke the back window of his vehicle. Kong continued to wave the knife around from inside the car.
Kong was hit with a Taser, but it appeared to have no effect on him. Moments later, Kong jolted from the car — with the knife still in hand — and started running. At that point, officers opened fire and Kong immediately dropped to the ground.
Burnsville Police Chief Eric Gieseke said the officers attempted to contain the situation and weighed the options before they took action.
“You see multiple attempts at de-escalation — including dozens of verbal commands for Mr. Kong to drop his weapon, and two Taser deployments,” Gieseke said in a statement.
Altogether, Kong was shot a total of 15 times in his head, neck, torso, arms and thigh. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy concluded Kong had amphetamine and methamphetamine in his system. Witnesses told authorities he had been acted strangely the night before.
Records show Kong was previously arrested at least seven times for charges that included narcotics possession, firearms violations and domestic violence. Also, the Star Tribune reported he had a history of mental illness.
The incident was investigated by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, who released the video, before it was turned over to the grand jury.
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