Duluth settles with victim of police shooting, officer reinstated
Officer Tyler Leibfried was responding to a domestic assault call at a downtown Duluth apartment building when he mistakenly thought he heard two gunshots, according to court documents. (Supplied)
DULUTH, Minn. (FOX 21) - The city of Duluth has awarded a $600,000 civil suit settlement to a man who was shot by a police officer in 2020.
Officer Tyler Leibfried was responding to a domestic assault call at a downtown Duluth apartment building when he mistakenly thought he heard two gunshots, according to court documents.
Leibfried shot six rounds into a closed apartment door, striking unarmed Jared Fyle, 23, in the back.
Leibfried was the first Duluth police officer to ever be charged with an on-duty shooting. He was acquitted in 2022.
Fyle was left with a bullet lodged in his back shoulder because doctors said it could not be safely removed.
Fyle’s attorney released the following statement Tuesday: "Officer Tyler Leibfried made a serious mistake on September 12, 2020. No one claimed that Jared Fyle was involved in any criminal activity that day. Mr. Fyle looks forward to finally putting this incident behind him."
The Duluth Police Department tried to terminate Leibfried at one point, but he was reinstated after a jury found him not guilty of the felony charges against him.
Leibfried is "employed as a sworn officer at the Duluth Police Department," according to Mattie Hjelseth, the department’s public information officer.