What Happened to This Police Officer Accused of Killing a Black Man During a Traffic Stop?

A Minnesota State Trooper is facing felony charges in connection to the shooting death of Ricky Cobb, a Black man who refused to exit his vehicle when police officers told him he was being placed under arrest but didn’t say why.

Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Ryan Londregan is the latest white cop to face charges in the killing of a Black man. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the decision to file charges against the cop Wednesday, listing his charges as second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.

Last July, Cobb was pulled over on Interstate 94 for unlit taillights, according to the criminal complaint. Londregan and two of his colleagues apprehended Cobb and learned he had a warrant for his arrest in Ramsey County for violating a protective order. When the three cops approached Cobb, they ordered him to step out of the vehicle but “did not give Cobb a reason for wanting him to get out of the vehicle, other than that they’d ‘explain it all’ later, the report says.

After threatening to arrest him, Cobb let go of the brake and the car began to move slowly. Londregan drew his firearm and fired two shots just a breath after ordering Cobb to exit the car. Cobb died on the scene.

An attorney for Londregan argued that his client was really the “hero” of the incident and his use of deadly force was to protect himself and his colleague from “great bodily harm.” However, Moriarty disagreed.

“As with all Minnesota law enforcement officers, state troopers may only use deadly force when it is necessary to protect a person from a specific identified threat of great bodily harm or death that was reasonably likely to occur. That did not exist in this case. Ricky Cobb II should be alive today,” Moriarty said via The Associated Press.

Londregan had only been on the force for a year and a half. If convicted, he faces anywhere between 10 and 40 years in prison.

To Cobb’s family, this step toward justice will never make up for the loss.

“Ryan Londregan stole my son from me,” said Cobb’s mother, Nyra Fields-Miller. “He gunned Ricky down my son for no reason while he was defenseless. Nothing can ever make up for that. But today’s decision is the first step toward closure and justice.”