26 August 2024
POLK COUNTY, Minn. — More than seven months after an East Grand Forks man was killed by a then-undercover — but since identified — police officer, it has not been determined whether criminal charges will be filed against the officer.
Lucas Paul Gilbertson, 42, was shot multiple times on Jan. 9, while at his mother’s residence in Rhinehart Township, Polk County.
He later died while undergoing surgery at Altru Hospital, according to a federal civil court document later filed on behalf of Gilbertson’s father.
Law enforcement was at the residence that day because they received a tip that Gilbertson was there.
Out on bond at the time for a pending criminal case, Gilbertson had a warrant out for his arrest due to alleged release violations.
The acts leading up to the shooting were caught on four body cameras; however, the shooter — East Grand Forks Police Officer Aeisso Schrage — was not wearing one, and he was alone with Gilbertson when shots rang out inside the home.
Prior to the shooting, Gilbertson is seen on video running from officers around the perimeter of the residence.
Within approximately one minute of him returning inside, an officer yells that Gilbertson is throwing “stuff” out of the window, then says, “shots fired.”
It was later confirmed that Gilbertson threw a gun out the window. Law enforcement has not confirmed whether he fired any of the shots, or if he was armed with any other weapons.
Reviewing the body camera footage, the Herald heard what appear to be six shots.
Due to Schrage’s status as an undercover officer with the Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force, he was exempt from identification under Minnesota law. His identity was revealed, though, when a lawsuit was filed against him in federal court.
Documentation from the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court by Gilbertson’s father one month after his son’s death, says the gun found outside the window was not fired during the shooting.
A month after the civil case was opened, Schrage filed a response to the complaint, denying any wrongdoing. Amended pleadings in the civil case are due by Oct. 31.
As is standard procedure, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension immediately took over the investigation into Schrage’s use of deadly force against Gilbertson.
The investigation typically takes around two months, then BCA Public Information Officer Bonney Bowman told the Herald in January.
It took approximately six months for this investigation to conclude, and the information to be passed along to the county attorney’s office.
Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth, in a Monday, Aug. 19, email to the Herald, said most of the investigation was forwarded to his office in May, but the complete investigation — including everything necessary for a full review — came in late June.
The full investigative report has been in the agency’s possession for approximately two months.
“The matter is still under review by our office,” Widseth wrote. “We are short-staffed, and we have been, and will continue, to devote the necessary time to this case to conduct a thorough review before making a decision. Under the circumstances, that takes time.”
Prior to Gilbertson’s death, the most recent fatal shooting of a Polk County civilian carried out by law enforcement was the March 20, 2017, death of Clarence Duane Huderle.
Law enforcement was called to a Northland Township residence after Huderle, 73, shot the window out of a mail carrier vehicle, according to a BCA press release.
The BCA investigated the death and turned its findings over to the county attorney’s office on May 3, 2017. An article published on the Herald website Aug. 30, 2017, said the attorney’s office determined the shooting was justified.
The whole process took 163 days, or approximately five months.
The time it took from the report being turned over to the attorney’s office to a verdict being reached was just shy of four months.
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