By Dan Nienaber

ANOKA — A violent confrontation escalated to gunfire while a Le Sueur County sheriff's deputy and 24-year-old Tyler Heilman were still wrestling on the ground outside an apartment in Kasota, according to information released Tuesday by the Anoka County attorney's office.

Information provided by a bystander the day after the fatal fight, evidence gathered during the autopsy of Heilman's body and the trajectory of one of two bullets that flew into the nearby apartment are consistent with deputy Todd Waldron's description of what happened during his July 20 confrontation with Heilman, said Andrew Johnson, assistant Anoka County attorney.

Several people witnessed the incident, which started when Waldron confronted Heilman in a parking lot at the South Ridgely apartment complex about driving erratically. None dispute that it ended when Waldron shot and killed Heilman.

A summary of a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation into the shooting, including the fact Heilman's blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit for driving at the time, was released during a news conference led by Johnson. He gave the first public statement about what Waldron told investigators after the shooting.

Waldron, contacted Tuesday afternoon, declined comment. He did not attend the news conference.

“I hope Anoka County relayed the details of the incident well,” Waldron said. “There’s still possible civil litigation out there, so at this point I’m going to have to decline comment.”

Johnson revealed that Waldron said he was being choked to the point of becoming unconscious. He became concerned he would be seriously injured or killed when he saw his gun and holster had fallen off his belt and were lying on the ground.

Waldron, who had red marks on his throat and other parts of his body after the struggle, said he picked up his gun and started shooting, Johnson said. He fired the first shot while both men were still on the ground.

Tests done on Heilman’s body showed that one of two shots that hit him in the chest had a stippling burn. That suggests Waldron’s gun was within 12 or 13 inches of Heilman’s body when the shot was fired.

A total of four shots were fired and neither of the bullets that hit Heilman’s chest left his body, an autopsy showed. But there was evidence the two other bullets fired entered a nearby apartment. A BCA agent said it was his opinion one of the bullets had been fired from a “non-standing position.”

According to dispatch records, the entire confrontation lasted about three minutes. Waldron said he was getting out of his vehicle at the apartment complex at 3:43 p.m. His call to report shots had been fired was recieved at 3:46 p.m.





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