A Woodbury police officer and Washington County sheriff’s deputy acted lawfully when they shot and injured a man during a standoff at a Woodbury Target parking lot in April, the Washington County attorney has concluded.

Officers from the Woodbury Police Department and the Washington County SWAT team were involved in a shooting in a Woodbury retail area Monday morning, April 22, 2024. (Courtesy of Woodbury Public Safety)

On Thursday, County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said Officer James Stoffel of the Woodbury Public Safety Department and Deputy Brian Krook of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office were justified in using deadly force against Donald Eugene Roche, 61, of Rockford, Minn.

Police shot Roche after he pointed a Crossman CO2-powered pellet gun designed to look like a snub-nosed revolver at officers, according to the county attorney’s office.

Roche had barricaded himself inside a minivan after law enforcement had tracked him down in connection to more than $3,000 of fraudulent transactions on a stolen credit card, according to criminal charges.

When Roche emerged from the van to confront officers, he brandished the weapon, leading to the shooting, the county attorney’s office said.

“Mr. Roche intentionally threatened the lives of law enforcement officers to exploit their trained reactions and compel the use of deadly force,” Magnuson said in a news release announcing the conclusion of his review. “Fortunately, that force was not lethal here, but the effects of being forced to react with deadly force can be very damaging to law enforcement and their families.”

Magnuson called Roche’s conduct an attempted “suicide by cop.” Pleading guilty to second-degree assault charges in court last month, Roche said police “had every right” to shoot him, and that he wanted police to shoot and kill him because he did not want to go back to prison, according to the county attorney.

Magnuson’s announcement comes after prosecutors reviewed a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation of the incident.

According to charges and the review:

Roche was accused of stealing a wallet from a lunch box at a construction site in Oakdale around 8:30 a.m. on April 22 and allegedly using a card to make thousands in fraudulent purchases at Home Depot and Target at Valley Creek Plaza in Woodbury.

Law enforcement was alerted about the fraud after the wallet’s owner got texts and alerts about unauthorized purchases. Using surveillance cameras and license plate readers, police then located a Honda Odyssey van whose Illinois plates were captured on a license plate reader near the construction site, according to charges. The vehicle had been reported as stolen near St. Louis on March 22.

Police found Roche as he exited Target, where he had allegedly made $1,500 in fraudulent purchases, according to Magnuson’s memo to the BCA. Officers tried to arrest him as he was headed toward the vehicle, but “disengaged when they saw Roche carrying what appeared to be a revolver.”

Roche then retreated to his vehicle and refused to get out, prompting a one-hour standoff with police and the Washington County SWAT Team.

When Roche exited the vehicle with the pellet gun he ignored commands from police to put his hands in the air, walked to the front of the van and pointed it at several officers, the memo said. Police then used “less-lethal” rounds, but he did not surrender.

Roche then pointed the pellet gun at officers again, prompting Stoffel to shoot two rounds from his rifle at Roche, hitting him once. The report said Stoffel did so because he feared for his and others’ safety.

Roche was hit but continued to ignore commands and took cover behind the van.  When SWAT approached the van, Roche reportedly walked around the vehicle toward Krook, the deputy, who shot Roche with a pistol when it appeared Roche was raising the pellet gun again

After being shot the second time, Roche was treated at a St. Paul hospital before being taken to the Washington County jail.

Roche was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of financial transaction card fraud and one count of third-degree burglary in connection to the incident.

He is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 30.

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