A Minnesota trooper is charged with murder in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II

MINNEAPOLIS– A Minnesota State Patrol trooper was charged Wednesday with murder in the shooting death of motorist Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop in July.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference that her office has charged Trooper Ryan Londregan with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter in Cobb’s death.

“Like all law enforcement officers in Minnesota, state troopers may use deadly force only when it is necessary to protect an individual from a specifically identified threat of great bodily harm or death that is reasonably likely to occur. That didn’t exist in this case. Ricky Cobb II should be alive today,” Moriarty said.

Londregan shot Cobb after he refused to leave his car during a stop on a Minneapolis highway, according to the Minnesota Public Safety Department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which investigates police shootings.

Officer Brett Seide initially pulled Cobb over when he noticed the taillights of the Ford Fusion Cobb was driving were off, the agency said.

The agency has previously said Seide checked Cobb’s file and discovered he was wanted for an “arrest for probable cause for a violation of the protective order” issued by the nearby Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office.

Londregan and Trooper Garrett Erickson later arrived and helped when Seide tried to pull Cobb from the car before Londregan shot him and Cobb drove away. The vehicle Cobb was driving stopped on the highway shortly afterward and the agency said troopers attempted to rescue Cobb. He died on the spot.