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Autopsy Reveals Unarmed Man Shot in Back of Head by Police in North Dakota

An autopsy report revealed last week that Daniel Aaron Fuller was shot in the back of the head in an officer involved shooting and his family is now demanding answers. Twenty-six-year-old Fuller, of Devils Lake in North Dakota, was shot at the back of his head by a police officer on July 5 after being chased by plainclothes police officers. The Devils Lake Police Department has not revealed the name of the shooter.

According to Devils Lake Police Chief Joe Knowski, two plainclothes officers responded to reports that a man was trying to burglarize mobile homes in Southview Estates. The description given fitted Fuller, who ran and scaled a fence on sighting the police. The police gave chase before one of them fatally shot him, whether or not a struggle occurred before the shooting is debated. The police officers were not wearing body cameras because they were plainclothed.

The Devils Lake Police Department said they are not able to release the names of officers connected to the incident, on the advice of the Ramsey County State’s Attorney Kari Agotness. Although the officer who shot and killed Fuller has been placed on administrative leave, the others invoked Marsy’s Law to keep their names secret from the public.

Investigators Told Fuller’s Family He Was Pistol-Whipped Before Being Shot

While the officers weren’t wearing body cameras, the dash cam of a Devils Lake police cruiser captured part of what transpired. However, the video is yet to be released to the public.

Grand Forks Coroner Mary Ann Sens conducted an autopsy on Fuller at the UND Forensic Pathology Practice Center. Her report determined that Fuller was shot in the back of his head and the bullet wound was blackened with soot. There were signs that he suffered blunt force injuries to his head.

The autopsy report also said “the discharge of the firearm was apparently inadvertent,” but the injury was “inflicted by another person during an intentional and harmful act directed at the decedent” and found “the manner of death was certified as homicide.”

Sens made it clear that though Fuller’s death was obviously a homicide, it is the duty of a court to determine if it was a criminal homicide. Homicide alone simply means that a death was caused by a human.

The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation reportedly told Fuller’s family that police found Fuller lying in the grass and that her son was pistol-whipped by an officer three times before being shot. Investigators told Fuller’s family that the dashcam video shows a brief struggle prior to the shooting.

Marla Fuller, Daniel Fuller’s mother, said investigators told her it appeared Daniel Fuller had his arms out while sitting “like he was surrendering” before he was shot.

“It’s just been a nightmare,” Marla Fuller said.

The police department and the Office of the Attorney General, as well as BCI officials, have declined to comment on the matter, stating detailed information will only be publicly released after investigations are completed. But Fuller’s family does not believe there is ever going to be a fair trial, stating the police may not be objective in prosecuting one of their own.

“It’s been 50 days since Danny was shot and killed by an officer of the Devils Lake Police Department,” Marla Fuller said. “We are still waiting for answers. We want to know why this officer has not been named.”

Fuller’s sister, Allyson Bartlett, said her brother must have panicked on sighting the police because there was a pending warrant for his arrest.

The warrant was in connection to a property theft late last year. Earlier in 2012, Fuller admitted to drunk driving and a separate burglary incident. There was another 2014 case filed against him when he was involuntarily hospitalized after a suicide attempt. He woke up angry and pushed a nurse at the Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, for which he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Fuller’s sister said he had troubles but wasn’t a violent criminal. “It seemed like when he made bad choices, it was always just always an extreme for him,” she said.

 

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54 Comments

  1. rory August 28, 2018

    murder!

    Reply
  2. Cheryl Yeager August 28, 2018

    But yet we are to respect these bad apples

    Reply
  3. Grechasaw Sawyer August 28, 2018

    Now cops are murdering white men……. that spells trouble for cops and black people.

    Reply
  4. Brad Manes August 28, 2018

    Assassinated

    Reply
  5. Louise Dodson August 28, 2018

    That’s murder!

    Reply
  6. Tony Synarskl August 28, 2018

    When cops do this it is not policing. It is Murder.

    Reply
  7. Martha Williams August 28, 2018

    Maybe they want white people to feel the pain that black people feels,then some of them may understand.But either way its wrong and very sad.

    Reply
  8. Irving B Gilbert August 28, 2018

    Kill the shooter

    Reply
  9. Patricia Gulifield Segal August 28, 2018

    Thank trump. RLS

    Reply
  10. Larry L. Cunningham August 28, 2018

    Another one! Deplorable! Trumpland!

    Reply
  11. Doug Bryant August 28, 2018

    Nothing new here ,trigger happy cops have no fear of prosecution. Kill them all and let God sort them out.

    Reply
  12. Cacho Acuna August 28, 2018

    Nobody,I repeat,nobody deserves that.Black,Hispanic,white.asian.

    Reply
  13. Tina Campos August 28, 2018

    Criminals with a gun

    Reply
  14. Caron Runkel August 28, 2018

    No other words but disgusting

    Reply
  15. Shirley Andrews August 28, 2018

    What’s happening to our world RIP young man !

    Reply
  16. Peca Blanco August 28, 2018

    Horrible!! He needs justice!!

    Reply
  17. Victor Lopez August 28, 2018

    Nothing new for the cops… their fantasy and dream.

    Reply
  18. Ed Eichner August 28, 2018

    We need to stop the police gangsters

    Reply
  19. Chari Hayes August 28, 2018

    Welcome to black amerkkka.

    Reply
  20. Michael Moore August 28, 2018

    And what will be done.

    Reply
  21. Ray Rossman August 28, 2018

    We have to restructure who is employed to be the police. No more thugs!

    Reply
  22. Shirley Barnett Wade August 28, 2018

    SMH

    Reply
  23. Ronald Christensen August 28, 2018

    North Dakota Police are just as bad as the rest of the Police !

    Reply
  24. Pamela Mitchell August 28, 2018

    Police are sick

    Reply
  25. Sue Ross August 28, 2018

    How does the coroner know the gun was fired inadvertently???

    Reply
  26. Goldie Pojar August 28, 2018

    So, a failed thief deserves to be assassinated? Really? My God.

    Reply
  27. Ruth Whitmore August 28, 2018

    I hope those policemen are brought up on murder charges.

    Reply
  28. Gloria Kornblum White August 28, 2018

    It feels people, especially young men, aren’t worth much anymore, particularly by the police. Shoot first and ask questions later?

    Reply
  29. Paula Mattern August 28, 2018

    ??

    Reply
  30. Joseph Spencer August 28, 2018

    ??????

    Reply
  31. Jim Paulson August 28, 2018

    Let’s get the complete story and facts.

    Reply
  32. Donna Gardner August 28, 2018

    Why did he shoot him in the back of his head, did he feel threatened?

    Reply
  33. Andrew Richard Tennock August 28, 2018

    Our police suck.

    Reply
  34. Roger Jasso August 28, 2018

    No longer a true police in 2018

    Reply
  35. Gen Tate-Jewett September 1, 2018

    Prayers for his family…❤️

    Reply
  36. Bette Crooke September 1, 2018

    Sad

    Reply
  37. Deborah Willis September 1, 2018

    R.I.P ?????? for the family

    Reply
  38. John Wykes September 1, 2018

    north dakota will back the laws of human rights at the drop of a hat ; they invaded the nations with out at court order and beat up women children, and elders broke bones put out eyes marked their skin with numbers and put them in cages; you can expect nothing less then cold blooded murder when you say north dakota

    Reply
  39. Louise Dodson September 1, 2018

    I bet that police was scared to death, its scary when someone has their back to you.,.

    Reply
    1. Patricia Gulifield Segal September 2, 2018

      And,RLS.

  40. Marie Martin September 1, 2018

    God help all in this mess

    Reply
  41. Virginia Langley September 1, 2018

    I’m so sorry some police get away with this.

    Reply
  42. Henry Peterson September 1, 2018

    Okay murder now is the cop in jail yet

    Reply
  43. Larry L. Cunningham September 1, 2018

    Deplorable

    Reply
  44. Shirley Hawkins September 2, 2018

    Prayers go out for his family. R.I.P young man. This has to stop.Lock trump now with pence Ryan and McConnell impeach them out.

    Reply
  45. Bob Berry September 2, 2018

    Sounds like an execution.

    Reply
  46. Katy Tessler Braun September 2, 2018

    WHY WHY WHY.

    Reply
  47. Phyllis Setterberg-Tobias September 2, 2018

    Sad?

    Reply
  48. Pete Hammill September 2, 2018

    When the Clintons were in power a shot to the back of the head was a suicide.

    Reply
  49. Pat Grabin September 2, 2018

    So sad he had his whole life ahead of him

    Reply
  50. Ann Corson September 2, 2018

    Why?

    Reply
  51. Ruth Whitmore September 2, 2018

    So sad

    Reply
  52. Jon Miller June 27, 2020

    I don’t understand, it said the incident happened on July 5th, and then stated it had.been 50 days had passed of the day he was killed???

    Reply
  53. Allin fuchthese tyrants June 29, 2020

    The devil’s lake PD should probably start wearing bulletproof helmets. It would be just terrible if these upstanding gentlemen officers (swine) started receiving the same treatment.

    Reply

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