Man charged in shooting, standoff

The man who authorities say fired a gun toward police officers during a traffic stop, then held them at bay for hours before shooting himself, has been charged with multiple felonies.

Trevor Michael Lutz, 36, was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder (though the language of the complaint specifies the act and the sentence would be for an attempt of that crime); as well as one count of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.

Lutz shot himself in the abdomen during the standoff, the criminal complaint says; he remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

His first court date has not been set.

The case began about 8:20 p.m. July 1 with a request for a welfare check on Lutz, who was reported to be engaging in self-harm by cutting his arms.

About an hour later, officers learned Lutz had made threats of suicide; they soon spotted his vehicle on West Bridge Street. When they performed a traffic stop on South Oak Avenue and Southview Street, they saw cuts on the driver’s arm.

Two officers participated in the initial stop and identified the driver as Lutz. He rolled down the front windows of his vehicle to speak with both officers, but refused to be checked out by ambulance personnel or go to the hospital.

Lutz became uncooperative, the complaint says, as officers tried to de-escalate the situation and reason with him. According to the court documents, Lutz refused to get out of his vehicle, and said he just wanted to see his children.

A third officer placed stop sticks under the vehicle’s tires.

Lutz “abruptly rolled up the windows and reached for the center console,” the charging document continues; the officer on the driver’s side tried to keep the window down as a fourth officer deployed pepper balls into the vehicle.

Body-worn camera footage allegedly shows Lutz opening the console before the officers move away.

Moments later, Lutz fired multiple rounds toward the officers with a handgun, according to the criminal complaint; BWC and squad cameras show the muzzle flash – and the gun is pointed in the direction of officers, it says.

The officer from the driver’s side of Lutz’s vehicle had released the window “seconds” before the shots were fired; he had retreated diagonally toward the middle of the street. All four of the officers involved were about a car length away from Lutz when he shot at them, the report says.

Lutz then fled the scene, and was pursued by a fifth officer in a squad with lights and sirens activated.

Lutz stopped about two blocks away in the 200 block of West McKinley Street, between Oak and Linn avenues.

According to the complaint, Lutz got out of his vehicle, pointed his gun directly at the officer in the squad and fired one round. The officer crouched behind the engine block and put the squad in reverse.

Law enforcement shut down the area and issued a shelter in place order about 10:15 p.m.

When tactical teams and rescue vehicles responded to the area, Lutz returned to his vehicle and refused to communicate with law enforcement and crisis negotiators, allegedly continuing to threaten them – and himself – with his weapon.

Lutz exchanged phone calls with several people, telling them he believed he was going to die.

At one point, he got out of the vehicle and pointed his gun at a drone that was attempting contact, the report says.

Lutz shot himself in the abdomen about 12:20 a.m. July 2, the police statement says. He was taken into custody without further incident, transported for medical care and is expected to recover.

A search of Lutz and his vehicle reportedly turned up two handgun magazines, a 9mm Sig Sauer P320 handgun and spent bullet casings.

He is described in the complaint as making “multiple incriminating statements,” including telling a detective “I should have aimed higher,” that a female officer on the scene “pissed him off,” and said he was ready to be dead, “whether it was self-inflicted or officer-induced.”

Officers from Steele and Rice county sheriff’s offices and the Minnesota State Patrol assisted, along with Mayo Ambulance, and SWAT teams from the South Central Drug Investigation Unit and Rice County.