No charges to be filed in Stillwater police fatal shooting of O’Kwan Sims

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·4 min read
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No charges will be brought against the Stillwater police officers involved in the shooting death of O’Kwan Rahmier Sims because the “use of force was justified,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

Sims, 21, was shot and killed March 4 in the parking lot of a Stillwater apartment complex by two police officers responding to an “active-shooter” call, the release said. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office.

Magnuson said in the release that his decision came after prosecutors reviewed an extensive investigative file from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension consisting of more than “2,000 pages of reports, dozens of photographs, and hours of video and audio evidence.”

The officers involved in the shooting were Sgt. Daniel Young, who has worked in law enforcement for 12 years, and Sgt. Justin Dowley, a seven-year veteran of law enforcement who was an officer at the time of the shooting. Dowley was promoted to sergeant in May.

The two were placed on standard administrative leave after the shooting.

Shot mother’s friend, then shot at squad car

According to the BCA, Sims lived with his mother in the Curve Crest Villas apartment complex at 2225 Orleans St. On the afternoon of the shooting, a friend of Sims’ mother went to the apartment. She told BCA agents that Sims came out of his bedroom with a gun and shot her in the knee “for no apparent reason.”

Just before 2:30 p.m. March 4, 911 calls started coming in from people reporting gunshots in the apartment building, according to the BCA, and officers from the Stillwater and Oak Park Heights Police Departments and deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded.

Officer Lindsey Paradise of the Oak Park Heights Police Department was the first to arrive.

“She drove her fully-marked squad vehicle into the parking lot near the main entrance” of the apartment complex and “heard ‘popping noises’ and the sound of metal striking her squad,” the release states. “The officer immediately recognized the sound of gunfire and radioed to other responders that shots had been fired at her vehicle.”

Additional officers arrived and spotted Sims standing in the driveway to the apartment complex parking lot. “Sims was holding a pistol with an extended magazine in his hand, and when officers yelled at Sims to drop the gun, he ran around the corner of the building where they lost sight of him,” the release states.

As officers moved to their squad car to retrieve a rifle and ballistic shield, “they heard approximately 20 to 30 rounds of rapid gunshots fired from the direction of the apartment complex,” the release states.

When Dowley and Young located Sims, he “pointed the pistol at officers, and they simultaneously fired their weapons at Sims,” according to the release. “Sims was struck three times and fell to the ground.”

Emergency aid was given until Sims could be taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Attended St. Paul Public Schools

Investigators from the BCA found 51 bullet cartridge casings believed to have been fired by Sims, according to the release. The BCA investigation further confirmed that Sims fired the rounds that struck Paradise’s squad car, as well as a second fully-marked squad vehicle on scene, the release states.

“The decision to use deadly force is never taken lightly, and we recognize the profound sorrow it brings to the family of Mr. Sims,” Magnuson said Thursday. “In this situation, these officers faced a dangerous, complex, and rapidly evolving scenario. They relied on their extensive training and quick reaction to ensure not only their own safety, but the safety of the community they have sworn to protect. These officers really had no other option, and we know they too bear the weight of the loss of life.”

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Sims grew up on the East Side of St. Paul and attended St. Paul Public Schools, including Humboldt High School, Johnson High School and Gordon Parks High School. He graduated from Gordon Parks, an alternative learning center, in 2020, a school district spokeswoman said.

Many of the officers involved were wearing body cameras that captured portions of the incident, but Dowley, who was scheduled to start his shift at 3 p.m., had not yet put his on, according to the BCA.

Other body-cam footage was not available Thursday. The case is in the process of being formally closed and added to the queue for redaction, said Bonney Bowman, a spokeswoman for the BCA. Once the case file is redacted, it will be posted to the BCA’s website, she said.