MINNEAPOLIS – Murder charges have been dropped against a Minnesota State Trooper who fatally shot a man during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 last summer, the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office announced Sunday.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has filed a complaint dismissing charges against Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II due to “several new pieces of evidence that would make it impossible for the State to prove that Mr. Londregan’s actions were no authorized use of force by a peace officer.”
Moriarty and the prosecution team met with an expert on the use of force and later concluded that the state could no longer meet its burden of proof, the prosecutor’s office said.
The county attorney cited two pieces of evidence that would make it “impossible” for the state to prove Londregan’s actions were unjustified.
First, during a public hearing on April 29, the defense revealed the contents of Londregan’s prospective testimony, claiming that he saw Cobb reach for his firearm moments before Londregan shot him.
Additionally, an MSP trainer had claimed that he never instructed the officer not to fire into a moving vehicle during an extraction, even though this is best practice.
“Today’s necessary decision does not change that fact, nor does it absolve Mr. Londregan or the methods his supervisors used to train him in difficult situations,” Moriarty said. “The question of whether we can prove a case at trial is different from acquitting someone of any wrongdoing. There are so many points where Mr. Londregan could have handled the situation differently, and if he had, Ricky Cobb might still be alive. .”
Moriarty says she and others in her office met with Cobb’s family before publicly announcing the charges would be dropped.
Note: The above video originally aired on April 29, 2024.
