ARTICLE AD BOX
The family of a man killed by Minneapolis police in 2022 is suing the city and several police officers over his death.
The lawsuit filed this week in federal court says Andrew Tekle Sundberg was in the midst of a mental health crisis, and his family accuses police of escalating the situation and failing to bring in mental health responders.
Sundberg, 20 — known to friends and family as Tekle — was killed three years ago. Minneapolis police responded to his apartment building on the 900 block of 21st Avenue South late on July 13, when a 911 caller reported someone was shooting into her apartment.
Police evacuated a woman and her two toddlers from the building after shots came through their walls. According to the city’s account and review of body camera footage, negotiators then spent about six hours on the scene calling Sundberg’s phone and speaking to him over a loudspeaker, attempting to coax him outside.
Two officers, later identified as Aaron Pearson and Zachary Seraphine, shot Sundberg from a neighboring rooftop during the standoff, after Pearson told fellow officers he saw a gun in Sundberg’s hand.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office chose not to charge officers in the shooting, after an investigation concluded they were within their right to use deadly force.
Sundberg’s father, Mark Sundberg, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court this week. The family is suing officers Pearson and Seraphine, the city and other police officials who were on the scene.
The complaint alleges police shot Tekle Sundberg “hours after the scene was made safe.” Apartment residents had been evacuated by the time officers killed Sundberg.
The suit also alleges Sundberg was suffering a mental health crisis “which the officers on the scene could observe.” The complaint says Sundberg’s parents were on the scene, and told officers that their son struggled with mental health issues.
His parents allegedly made several suggestions to officers for getting in contact with Sundberg. According to the lawsuit, police assured Sundberg’s parents they would not shoot him.
Officers observed Sundberg behaving erratically, occasionally hanging out of his apartment window and making unintelligible statements. According to the county attorney’s report, officers — including Pearson — said they believed Sundberg was in a mental health crisis. But because Sundberg had a gun and previously fired it in the building, the county attorney’s office concluded police reasonably believed he might shoot again, posing a danger to officers.
The lawsuit notes that both the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County had mental health response teams that could respond to police calls. Neither were brought in during the negotiations. Sundberg’s family alleges that violated his right to accommodations for his disability.
A city spokesperson declined to comment on the suit, saying the city does not comment on open litigation.
The family is seeking financial compensation and amendments to MPD training and policies around responding to mental health crises.
English (US) ·