FARGO – State crime agents will determine whether a Fargo police officer was in the right when he shot a car theft suspect early Monday after the man pointed a real-looking BB gun at him. It won’t be the first time Officer Patrick Thomas of the Fargo Police Department has been investigated for a shooting. Related: Suspect in Fargo BB gun incident identified, charged with terrorizing He left his previous job as an officer with the campus police force for North Dakota State University Police in 2013 when he shot himself in the arm after drinking alcohol, an accident the NDSU chief said would have led to his firing if he hadn’t quit. After Monday’s shooting, Thomas came to David Todd, Fargo’s interim police chief, and apologized for the 2013 incident, acknowledging it was likely to lead to questions from the public, Todd said. “He apologized for the past,” Todd said in an interview with The Forum late Monday afternoon. “I said to him, ‘The past is the past. I’ve looked at what you did last night and you did exactly what you were trained to do.’ ” Todd also said he had reviewed the squad car video recording of Monday’s shooting and believed what he saw backed Thomas’ actions. He said he’s been pleased with the performance of Thomas in the 11 months since his hiring, and is proud of him for his conduct Monday morning. “When he absolutely had to act, he did,” Todd said. Monday’s shooting The car theft suspect was shot by Thomas at about 3:10 a.m. in the parking lot of the Pizza Hut on 13th Avenue South just south of the Wal-Mart parking lot, Todd said at a Monday morning news conference. The suspect was hospitalized at Essentia Health after being struck by one of at least three shots police believe Thomas fired at him. Police didn't release the suspect’s name Monday, but said he would be identified today, when he likely will be formally charged in Cass County District Court. Todd said two Fargo officers and a West Fargo officer were dispatched at 3:08 a.m. to a report of a Dodge Stratus headed east in the westbound lanes of 13th Avenue South after striking a rock in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The vehicle had been reported stolen Friday night in Bottineau, N.D., and earlier in the night, sometime before 3 a.m., deputies from Traill and Cass counties had chased the stolen car before calling off the pursuit. At 3:09 a.m., the car pulled back onto the frontage road south of Wal-Mart, stopping in the parking lot of Culver’s at 4615 13th Ave. S., Todd said. The man who was driving the Dodge ran west from the parked car, while his female passenger ran east, Todd said. Thomas confronted the man in the parking lot of the Pizza Hut at 4701 13th Ave S., and the officer and the suspect began to circle the officer's squad car, Todd said. The man pointed the BB or pellet gun at Thomas, Todd said. Thomas fired back, and the suspect was struck with the gunfire and fell down immediately, he said. Todd said Thomas believed the man's weapon, which had been initially reported as being a gun with a laser sight, was a real handgun, Todd said. Police released an image of the BB gun at the news conference. The woman, Jennifer Stegman, 31, of Thompson, N.D., was arrested at 3:13 a.m. in the parking lot of the nearby Hobby Lobby and is being held on suspicion of refusing to halt. Court records show Stegman has a lengthy criminal history in North Dakota, including a string of felony convictions from 2009 to 2011 in Burleigh and Grand Forks counties for possession of methamphetamine, forgery and theft. Members of her family reached at their home in Grand Forks on Monday said they had not seen Stegman for several years. The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate whether the shooting was warranted, which is standard practice in an officer-involved shooting. It was the department’s second officer-involved shooting this year, following the June shooting of a suspect in a hotel robbery in downtown Fargo. Before that, a Fargo officer hadn’t shot anyone since 2008. Previous incident As is common practice in officer shootings, Thomas was placed on paid administrative leave Monday. Fargo police Lt. Mike Mitchell said it appears Thomas handled the incident appropriately. When Thomas was an officer on the NDSU force, he was also put on administrative leave for a shooting, though it was for shooting himself, according to his city of Fargo personnel file. Thomas began his career with the Fargo Police Department in October 2014 after his stint with the NDSU Police Department was cut short by the accidental shooting on Sept. 13, 2013. NDSU Campus Police Chief Bill Vandal, as part of a pre-hire Fargo police background investigation, told an investigator that he was about to fire Thomas, who admitted to having consumed a few beers before practicing a close-range shooting exercise in his apartment. Fargo police conducted the criminal investigation, since it happened while Thomas was off-duty and off-campus. A police report included with his personnel file says Thomas told police he had been practicing contact shooting at his home with a new tactical light he installed on his Glock 22 pistol while watching an instructional video. He believed the gun was unloaded and safe, and fired to test its performance after pressing it into his forearm. He didn’t realize he absent-mindedly loaded a magazine with rounds into it while watching the video, he told officers. The gun went off into Thomas’ forearm, the bullet lodging in the apartment wall. Officers investigating the blood-strewn scene of Thomas’ apartment in the 3500 block of 28th Avenue also discovered several cans of Bud Light in the trash, and Thomas admitted drinking two or three beers prior to the shooting. Thomas resigned from his job with NDSU campus police as his superiors were set to meet with him about the shooting incident, a move that apparently staved off his imminent firing, though he writes in his application to Fargo police he did so because of his self-inflicted injury. Many backed his hiring Though it appears the NDSU police were about to fire Thomas when he resigned, the department’s leaders spoke highly of him. Vandal told the pre-hiring investigator that he regretted that NDSU administration would have required him to fire Thomas over the shooting, adding, “We wish we could get Patrick back,” according to Thomas’ personnel file. Ray Boyer, director of university police and safety, told the same investigator that but for the involvement of alcohol in the shooting, Thomas’ job might have been saved. But he said that NDSU was a dry campus and took a no-tolerance policy to alcohol “when it affects the public image of NDSU,” personnel files say. Several other members of Fargo police and NDSU campus police joined in endorsing Thomas, and despite the shooting, he was hired on with Fargo police last year. Mitchell on Monday defended the hiring of Thomas, saying that only insubordination and dishonesty were automatic disqualifiers for employment in the Fargo Police Department. However, documents outlining the Fargo Police Department's hiring criteria list several other disqualifiers, such as conviction of certain felonies, visible tattoos and failing to provide child support. Other automatic reasons for rejection include lying or omitting critical information on the application. Candidates who are fired from other agencies are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Mitchell said, and Fargo police had access to campus police’s internal investigation before making their decision to hire Thomas. Each department sets its own policies regarding employment, he said, and officers with Fargo police who have found themselves, like Thomas, choosing resignation over termination have gone on to be hired at other agencies. “Patrick is a good officer who goes to work every night with the intention of helping people,” Mitchell said, adding that Monday’s shooting is “incredibly traumatic for the officer and the department.”
FARGO – State crime agents will determine whether a Fargo police officer was in the right when he shot a car theft suspect early Monday after the man pointed a real-looking BB gun at him.It won’t be the first time Officer Patrick Thomas of the Fargo Police Department has been investigated for a shooting.Related: Suspect in Fargo BB gun incident identified, charged with terrorizingHe left his previous job as an officer with the campus police force for North Dakota State University Police in 2013 when he shot himself in the arm after drinking alcohol, an accident the NDSU chief said would have led to his firing if he hadn’t quit.After Monday’s shooting, Thomas came to David Todd, Fargo’s interim police chief, and apologized for the 2013 incident, acknowledging it was likely to lead to questions from the public, Todd said.“He apologized for the past,” Todd said in an interview with The Forum late Monday afternoon. “I said to him, ‘The past is the past. I’ve looked at what you did last night and you did exactly what you were trained to do.’ ”Todd also said he had reviewed the squad car video recording of Monday’s shooting and believed what he saw backed Thomas’ actions. He said he’s been pleased with the performance of Thomas in the 11 months since his hiring, and is proud of him for his conduct Monday morning.“When he absolutely had to act, he did,” Todd said.Monday’s shootingThe car theft suspect was shot by Thomas at about 3:10 a.m. in the parking lot of the Pizza Hut on 13th Avenue South just south of the Wal-Mart parking lot, Todd said at a Monday morning news conference.The suspect was hospitalized at Essentia Health after being struck by one of at least three shots police believe Thomas fired at him. Police didn't release the suspect’s name Monday, but said he would be identified today, when he likely will be formally charged in Cass County District Court.Todd said two Fargo officers and a West Fargo officer were dispatched at 3:08 a.m. to a report of a Dodge Stratus headed east in the westbound lanes of 13th Avenue South after striking a rock in the Wal-Mart parking lot.The vehicle had been reported stolen Friday night in Bottineau, N.D., and earlier in the night, sometime before 3 a.m., deputies from Traill and Cass counties had chased the stolen car before calling off the pursuit.At 3:09 a.m., the car pulled back onto the frontage road south of Wal-Mart, stopping in the parking lot of Culver’s at 4615 13th Ave. S., Todd said.The man who was driving the Dodge ran west from the parked car, while his female passenger ran east, Todd said.Thomas confronted the man in the parking lot of the Pizza Hut at 4701 13th Ave S., and the officer and the suspect began to circle the officer's squad car, Todd said.The man pointed the BB or pellet gun at Thomas, Todd said. Thomas fired back, and the suspect was struck with the gunfire and fell down immediately, he said.Todd said Thomas believed the man's weapon, which had been initially reported as being a gun with a laser sight, was a real handgun, Todd said. Police released an image of the BB gun at the news conference.The woman, Jennifer Stegman, 31, of Thompson, N.D., was arrested at 3:13 a.m. in the parking lot of the nearby Hobby Lobby and is being held on suspicion of refusing to halt.Court records show Stegman has a lengthy criminal history in North Dakota, including a string of felony convictions from 2009 to 2011 in Burleigh and Grand Forks counties for possession of methamphetamine, forgery and theft.Members of her family reached at their home in Grand Forks on Monday said they had not seen Stegman for several years.The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate whether the shooting was warranted, which is standard practice in an officer-involved shooting.It was the department’s second officer-involved shooting this year, following the June shooting of a suspect in a hotel robbery in downtown Fargo. Before that, a Fargo officer hadn’t shot anyone since 2008.Previous incidentAs is common practice in officer shootings, Thomas was placed on paid administrative leave Monday. Fargo police Lt. Mike Mitchell said it appears Thomas handled the incident appropriately.When Thomas was an officer on the NDSU force, he was also put on administrative leave for a shooting, though it was for shooting himself, according to his city of Fargo personnel file.Thomas began his career with the Fargo Police Department in October 2014 after his stint with the NDSU Police Department was cut short by the accidental shooting on Sept. 13, 2013.NDSU Campus Police Chief Bill Vandal, as part of a pre-hire Fargo police background investigation, told an investigator that he was about to fire Thomas, who admitted to having consumed a few beers before practicing a close-range shooting exercise in his apartment.Fargo police conducted the criminal investigation, since it happened while Thomas was off-duty and off-campus. A police report included with his personnel file says Thomas told police he had been practicing contact shooting at his home with a new tactical light he installed on his Glock 22 pistol while watching an instructional video.He believed the gun was unloaded and safe, and fired to test its performance after pressing it into his forearm. He didn’t realize he absent-mindedly loaded a magazine with rounds into it while watching the video, he told officers.The gun went off into Thomas’ forearm, the bullet lodging in the apartment wall.Officers investigating the blood-strewn scene of Thomas’ apartment in the 3500 block of 28th Avenue also discovered several cans of Bud Light in the trash, and Thomas admitted drinking two or three beers prior to the shooting.Thomas resigned from his job with NDSU campus police as his superiors were set to meet with him about the shooting incident, a move that apparently staved off his imminent firing, though he writes in his application to Fargo police he did so because of his self-inflicted injury.Many backed his hiringThough it appears the NDSU police were about to fire Thomas when he resigned, the department’s leaders spoke highly of him.Vandal told the pre-hiring investigator that he regretted that NDSU administration would have required him to fire Thomas over the shooting, adding, “We wish we could get Patrick back,” according to Thomas’ personnel file.Ray Boyer, director of university police and safety, told the same investigator that but for the involvement of alcohol in the shooting, Thomas’ job might have been saved. But he said that NDSU was a dry campus and took a no-tolerance policy to alcohol “when it affects the public image of NDSU,” personnel files say.Several other members of Fargo police and NDSU campus police joined in endorsing Thomas, and despite the shooting, he was hired on with Fargo police last year.Mitchell on Monday defended the hiring of Thomas, saying that only insubordination and dishonesty were automatic disqualifiers for employment in the Fargo Police Department.However, documents outlining the Fargo Police Department's hiring criteria list several other disqualifiers, such as conviction of certain felonies, visible tattoos and failing to provide child support. Other automatic reasons for rejection include lying or omitting critical information on the application.Candidates who are fired from other agencies are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Mitchell said, and Fargo police had access to campus police’s internal investigation before making their decision to hire Thomas.Each department sets its own policies regarding employment, he said, and officers with Fargo police who have found themselves, like Thomas, choosing resignation over termination have gone on to be hired at other agencies.“Patrick is a good officer who goes to work every night with the intention of helping people,” Mitchell said, adding that Monday’s shooting is “incredibly traumatic for the officer and the department.”
