Edmond Fair, 24

Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 23, 2013

Agencies: Brooklyn Center Police Department Minnesota

Cause of death: Shooting


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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

A Brooklyn Center police officer shot and killed a man early Friday after a traffic stop and an ensuing struggle — less than a block from the motel door on which a bloodied man had banged for help before dying, just 24 hours before.

Despite their proximity in time and place, the fatal episodes were “totally unrelated,” said Brooklyn Center Police Cmdr. Tim Gannon.

“This is not typical,” he said of the bloodshed, noting that there has been only one other fatal shooting involving a traffic stop and a Brooklyn Center officer in the past two decades. And Thursday’s homicide was Brooklyn Center’s first since 2011, he added.

There was no immediate word on what led to Friday’s officer-involved shooting. Through the morning’s investigation, the body of the person who was shot lay in the weeds near the van involved in the incident. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office has not yet identified him, and the Sheriff’s Office was offering few details.

Edmond Fair was pulled over driving a minivan about 2 a.m. on Aug. 23 after they were asked to leave a Motel that called police to help with unruly guests. Fair told officers about his role in the 2011 kidnapping and alleged rape of a woman, where he had admitted to kidnapping but the rape charge was dropped, and officers he did not want to go back to jail. Fair fought off Soliday and his partner when they tried to handcuff him when he grabbed one of their Tasers and shocked them both before Soliday shot him. Soliday shot Fair when he reach for his partner's gun.  Edmond's family filed a lawsuit, later dismissed claiming “during a routine traffic stop, and without any justification or defense, Defendant Ryan Soliday shot and killed a defenseless and handcuffed Edmond Fair.” According to witnesses in the van, Soliday wrapped his arms around Fair’s upper body and neck, and the other officer fired Taser darts into Fair’s side. As Fair tried to take the darts out of his body, Soliday pulled Fair away from the van and “without any warning” sent the helpless and handcuffed Fair to the ground with a gunshot to the chest. In 2014, U.S. District Court Judge David Doty ruled Officer Ryan Soliday was justified in using deadly force.