MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Investigators say that they have forensically tied a stolen handgun to the man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis Police in Uptown last year.
Terrance Franklin, 22, was shot and killed on May 10, 2013 after struggling with officers. Police said he took a gun from one officer and severely wounded two of them before being shot himself.
Last September, a grand jury exonerated Minneapolis police officers involved in that struggle. However, attorney Michael Padden said that the police department’s version of what happened in that Uptown basement did not match the evidence. He claimed the shots were fired by one officer he says has a history of run-ins with black males.
Following the grand jury decision, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said, “Franklin had numerous opportunities to surrender, but it was clear by his actions, that from the beginning he had made the decision not to get caught at any cost.”
Police say a homeowner on the 500 block of 28th Street West found a handgun inside a sock last October, which was wedged between the home’s foundation and the back porch. Investigators tested it for DNA evidence.
On Wednesday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that Franklin’s DNA profile was found on the sock. The gun matched the one which was reported stolen from a home on the 400 block of Taylor Street Northeast the day before Franklin was shot.
A press conference has been scheduled for later Wednesday morning.
