BCA: Driver Died of Self-Inflicted Gunshot After Eden Valley Pursuit
A 34-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after an early morning pursuit Saturday southwest of Saint Cloud.
Around 2:20 a.m., an Eden Valley officer attempted to make a traffic stop for speeding and a headlight violation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed in a news release issued Sunday.
The driver—identified by the medical examiner’s office as Stephen Christ Poissant, 34, of Brainerd—fled westbound on Highway 55, and the officer initiated a pursuit.
Eden Valley is about 30 miles southwest of Saint Cloud.
About one mile west of Eden Valley, Poissant crashed into the ditch, the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office said in a media release.
Poissant—who was the only occupant of the vehicle—exited and allegedly “exchanged gunfire” with the officer, the media release stated.
The BCA said Eden Valley officer Evan Borscheid shot Poissant once in the knee during the incident, described by the agency as a graze wound. Poissant then reportedly shot himself and was later declared dead at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The officer was not injured and a handgun was recovered near Poissant’s body, authorities said.
The Eden Valley Police Department does not have body cameras, but a squad camera was operating throughout the incident. The BCA is continuing its investigation, which is standard for officer-involved shootings in the state.
The BCA has not yet released how many times Poissant is believed to have shot his weapon, nor if the officer fired his more than once.
Borscheid has been in law enforcement for five years, the BCA said in a media release, and is on standard administrative leave.
According to state court records, Poissant had prior convictions for drugs, DWI and fleeing police in a motor vehicle, among others convictions.