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Investigation fails to produce gun
Published 06:45 p.m., February 13, 2009
Investigators failed Friday to produce a weapon a Pope County sheriff’s deputy claims was pulled on him during an early morning traffic stop on Western Avenue in Fergus Falls.
Christian White, 41, was in the Otter Tail County jail Friday on two outstanding felony warrants for firearms possession. A Pope County deputy transporting a suspect to a Fergus Falls detox center witnessed White driving down the wrong side of Highway 210 as he entered the Fergus Falls city limits. The deputy pulled White over and shot into his vehicle after allegedly seeing White reach for what appeared to be a gun.
Neither White nor a passenger in the vehicle were injured in the shooting.
Investigators from the Fergus Falls Police Department were aided Friday by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter as a search for the alleged weapon resulted in the closure of Western Avenue through mid afternoon Friday.
“We didn’t find anything at the scene except for the shell casings from the deputy’s gun,” said Fergus Falls Police Chief Tim Brennan.
Brennan said the next step will be to search rooftops of buildings in the Fergus Falls commercial district on the chance that suspect Christian White pitched the gun onto the roof of a building while fleeing the scene following the shooting.
The State Patrol helicopter was called in to assist in determing the exact route White used when fleeing the scene. The route was then searched for the weapon.
Late Friday afternoon White’s vehicle was impounded from the returned to Glenwood late Friday morning with Pope County Sheriff Thomas L. Larson, Brennan said.
The next step will be to complete the investigation. The case will be forwarded to the Otter Tail County District Attorney’s Office if the investigation produces any evidence that could result in charges being filed against White, Brennan said.
According to investigation reports: At about 2:12 a.m. Friday, the Fergus Falls Police Department responded to a request for assistance from a Pope County deputy. The Deputy was in the area of Western Avenue, just north ofHwy 2l0/Lincoln Avenue on a traffic stop with a vehicle, and shots had been fired by the deputy.
The Deputy had transported an individual from Pope County to the Fergus Falls Detox Center, and was on his way back when he encountered a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes ofHwy 210 in the vicinity of Interstate 94. The Deputy turned around and stopped the vehicle just north of 21O-Lincoln Avenue on Western Avenue.
The Deputy approached the vehicle, which was occupied by a driver and two passengers.
When asked, the driver stated he did not have a license. The deputy stated that suddenly and unexpectedly the driver turned toward the him and pointed what looked to be a gun. The Deputy drew his handgun while backing away from the suspect vehicle and fired his handgun at the car.
The car sped off northbound on Western Avenue and about a block later ran into a snow bank.
The White allegedly ran from the vehicle and was later located and taken into custody several blocks away by a Fergus Falls police officer. The passengers in the car were interviewed and released.
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