St. Paul police released body-camera footage Friday of an officer shooting and wounding a person after responding to a 911 call last weekend.

Brett Kohl Fraser, 31, is out of the hospital. He was jailed on warrants unrelated to last Saturday’s incident, but has since been released. A case has not been presented for charging consideration within the assault that police were called to last weekend.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Police Chief Axel Henry have said they’re committed, within the interest of transparency, to releasing body-camera footage when there’s a shooting by police after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension collects preliminary witness statements.

The BCA, the agency investigating, said Wednesday that St. Paul police responded to a Frogtown apartment just after midnight last Saturday on reports of a person physically and sexually assaulting a girl. A 911 call said a female was screaming for help and the person was armed with a gun, based on a temporary summary report from St. Paul police.

Officers knocked on the door within the 400 block of Thomas Avenue and identified themselves. Fraser’s address was listed because the apartment constructing in a recent court document.

They were in a position to get the feminine to depart safely, while Fraser remained inside, the St. Paul report said. The officers called to Fraser to return to the door and show himself, and he “charged out,” the report continued. Officer Josh Needham fired three rounds at Fraser and one struck him within the arm.

The video appears to align with the initial police report. It shows law enforcement officials knocking on an apartment door, a girl soon coming out without incident after which a person rushing out as an officer backpedals. Then three shots are fired.

Crime scene personnel found a duplicate handgun in a backpack within the apartment; it’s not clear to whom it belongs, the BCA said.

“Last Saturday our officers were called to a violent crime involving a firearm,” Henry said in a press release Friday. “A majority of these calls are amongst probably the most serious we’re asked to answer. Along with an independent investigation, we’re committed to the discharge of body worn camera footage because it pertains to our actions and the situation we were sent to.”

Anoka County cases

When the BCA completes its investigation, it would present a case file to the Ramsey County attorney’s office in regards to the allegations against Fraser and the usage of force by Needham, said Bonney Bowman, a BCA spokesperson. The BCA’s goal is to finish use-of-force investigations inside 60 days.

“This investigation is complex and the actions of Mr. Fraser and Officer Needham are closely tied together,” Bowman said. “Presenting one without the opposite would mean a scarcity of context for each.”

After Fraser was treated on the hospital, he was taken to jail for his warrants — not connected to Saturday’s case — that were issued in November when he didn’t appear in court for 3 Anoka County cases.

Fraser was released Wednesday from the Anoka County jail. He couldn’t be reached for comment Friday and an attorney representing him in Anoka County said he had no comment.

Prosecutors charged Fraser in October after Walmart loss prevention reported seeing a male, later identified as Fraser, conceal multiple items and leave the Fridley store. He had a white crystal substance in his wallet that field tested positive as methamphetamine, and 4 pills that Fraser said were fentanyl, based on a criminal criticism charging him with two counts of drug possession, one felony and one gross misdemeanor.

In March, Fraser walked out of Cub Foods in Blaine on Northtown Drive carrying a box of diapers he hadn’t paid for and was cited for misdemeanor theft, based on a criticism.

In August 2022, a police officer was dispatched to Goal on Springbrook Drive in Coon Rapids on a report of an individual using drugs at the shop’s entrance. The officer saw Fraser sitting against a pillar on the sidewalk in front of the shop. He seemed to be sleeping and had in his lap a chunk of tinfoil with burnt dark residue, and Fraser told the officer he’d been using fentanyl, a criticism said. He was charged with gross misdemeanor drug possession.

Fraser was in court Wednesday for the cases and bail was set at $5,000 without conditions or release on his personal recognizance with conditions.