Copyright © 2003 NLThomas
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DULUTH, MINNESOTA - A young Duluth man shot multiple times by city police says he is recovering well from the incident and expects to be released from St. Luke's Hospital next week.

"I was shot in the head, shot in the back," said Preston Freeman, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Freeman says he had complied with police orders to drop a broken pellet gun in his possession before officers Ann Seavey, Mike Erickson, Rod Wilson and Andy Mickus fired upon him, hitting him with six shots.

Duluth police declined comment, referring calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which--as is standard practice in such incidents--is investigating the case while the officers involved are placed on administrative leave. BCA investigator Phil Wagner could not be reached for comment by presstime.

In a March 22 press release, the Duluth police department failed to release the names of the officers or the victim, referring to the latter as "the gunman." When police authorities released the names six days later, they failed to disclose the number of shots fired or those which hit their target. Given the number of officers involved, at least one must have fired more than once.

Relatives of Freeman accused police of misrepresenting the issue in the media. Nancy Long Elk said the misunderstanding arose when a cab driver spotted the Native youth's handgun and reported his fears of armed robbery to the police. Long Elk said arriving officers failed to heed assurances from the cab driver that Freeman posed no threat to the public. "The cab driver told the police there was no problem, but they didn't listen," said Long Elk.

Freeman's mother, Edith Hall, accused police of needlessly shooting her son in the back and covering up the incident. She said authorities still refuse to release the name of the cab driver to the family.

"They can have other ways of dealing with things. They don't need to injure people," said Hall. "[The cab driver] didn't feel threatened or anything. Preston didn't point a gun or anything at him. Now [authorities are] changing the whole story."

No criminal charges have been filed in the incident.