Neighboring Attorney General puts on a master class on handling of an officer-involved shooting
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced yesterday in a press conference that the Fargo police officers who shot and killed Peter Greco, 65, on November 13 were justified in their use of deadly force.
The announcement by the state’s chief law enforcement officer, and the investigative process which lasted just under two months, represented a master class on how such incidents should be handled. Far too often in recent years, especially in more progressive areas, these incidents have been used to criticize law enforcement and call for sweeping changes that only serve to make law enforcement less effective and our communities less safe.
Instead, Wrigley stressed how the Fargo Community was well served by the Fargo Police Department, and that the officers involved in this critical incident were credits to their profession and their community. As a Minnesota resident, and someone who worked in law enforcement through the civil unrest of 2020, I can attest that A.G. Wrigley’s comments were refreshing and welcomed by the law enforcement community.
Greco had contact with the Fargo police 53 times over 16 years. 23 of those contacts were for significant, threatening, and at times suicidal behavior on the part of Greco. On November 13, Greco called the police to say he intended to confront Fargo police in what is referred to as “suicide by cop,” whereby he would force them to shoot him by creating a threat they would have to react to.
The police engaged in multiple phone calls with Greco throughout the morning and appeared to have de-escalated the situation. Hours after the initial call, Greco agreed to come out of his house unarmed, crawling on his hands and knees. However, when Greco came out of the house, he was walking and carrying what appeared to be a chrome .357 caliber revolver. Greco closed the distance on the two officers who were commanding him to drop the gun, and when he got about 20 feet from them Greco raised the handgun towards the officers as if to shoot. The two officers fired a total of six shots at Greco, striking him four times, and Greco fell to the ground and died despite emergency medical efforts to save him. It was later learned that the handgun Greco carried was a realistic-looking replica of a .357 revolver but in reality was just a pellet gun.
A.G. Wrigley stressed that in evaluating the actions of the Fargo police during that incident, he concluded that they did everything possible to deescalate and avoid the confrontation, but that Greco’s deception and determination to create the confrontation left the officers no option but to use deadly force to protect their lives.
No handwringing, no second guessing, no thinly veiled comments that there just wasn’t enough evidence to support charging the officers. None of that — only support for our officers who we ask to do their best in some of the most difficult situations that exist.
A.G. Wrigley pointed out just how dangerous it has become to be a law enforcement officer in North Dakota. He displayed a map showing the locations of 58 officer-involved shootings in North Dakota in just the past five years, saying each of these incidents involved violent situations in which the police had no other options but to use deadly force to protect themselves or others. By comparison, Minnesota, which has a population seven times larger than North Dakota, had 118 officer-involved shootings over the same five-year period.
On this National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, it is appropriate to thank all our law enforcement officers and let them know we understand how difficult their work is and we appreciate the sacrifices they make on our behalf.