Minnesota State Trooper Charged with Murder After Fatal Shooting During Traffic Stop Makes First Court Appearance

(KNSI) – A Minnesota State Patrol Trooper accused of shooting and killing a St. Cloud man as he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop in the Twin Cities made his first court appearance on Monday afternoon.

Ryan Patrick Londregan has been charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter in connection to the shooting death of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II.

Londregan was released without bail. He must surrender his passport and is barred from carrying a firearm. His next court appearance wasn’t immediately set.

According to the criminal complaint, on July 31st, 2023, Cobb was pulled over by troopers on Interstate 94 for driving without his lights on. During the stop, it was learned he was wanted in Ramsey County for violating a domestic abuse-related order for protection, but there was no outstanding warrant for Cobb’s arrest. Ramsey County was contacted and said they wanted him taken into custody.

Londregan was at Cobb’s passenger door with another trooper, who was identified as Trooper A in the complaint, at the driver’s door and a third, who was identified as Trooper B, standing behind them at the rear driver’s side door. The complaint states the vehicle “was in park with its doors locked and with its front windows rolled down.” Trooper A was at the driver’s door and told Cobb he needed to step out of the vehicle because they needed to discuss with him the issue with Ramsey County. Cobb and the troopers went back and forth with him asking why he needed to step out of the car and the troopers saying he needed to step out and they would talk about it once he got out of the car. Cobb asked if there was a warrant out for his arrest, and Trooper A said he was not subject to a warrant but everything would be explained when he got out of the car.

Court papers show Trooper A asked Cobb to hand over his keys, and Cobb repeatedly asked why because he was only stopped for not having his headlights on. The trooper said, “Yep. We’re way past that,” and told Cobb three more times to get out of the car. Cobb asks, “Where we at though?” before saying, “When you step out of the vehicle [and] you gonna explain it to me and then y’all say,” When the trooper interjected with, “This is now a lawful arrest.”

The criminal complaint says, “Throughout this one-minute exchange, the Victim’s hands were in the air as he gestured while talking, and the vehicle remained in park. The Victim’s hands were not touching the steering wheel or gear shifter, and the Victim had not stepped on the brake.”

Just as Cobb was told he was under arrest, prosecutors say Londegran “moved his hand into the inside of the passenger door of the Victim’s car and unlocked the vehicle’s doors,” which caught Cobb’s attention, and he looked over to see what Londregan was doing. Londregan opened the passenger side door, and “as the door was opening, the Victim placed his foot on the brake and moved his hand to the transmission shift.” Londregan fully opened the door, and Cobb shifted the vehicle into drive and took his foot off the brake. Trooper A began to open the driver’s side door and “The Victim’s vehicle began to slowly move several feet forward as the Victim’s foot was off the brake. Both the Defendant [Londregan] and Trooper A took steps forward to remain at the vehicle’s side as Trooper A opened the driver’s side door wider. At that moment, the Defendant and Trooper A were fully outside the vehicle.”

The trooper leaned down and started to reach into the driver’s door as Londregan remained on the passenger side and reached for his service weapon. According to the criminal complaint, Trooper A leaned into the vehicle and reached over Cobb’s body toward the seatbelt, and Cobb hit the brakes. Londregan then pulled his gun out of its holster and “pointed it directly at the Victim.”

Prosecutors allege that “Trooper A continued to lean his torso into the vehicle over the Victim’s body while the Victim kept his foot on the brake.” Londregan still had Cobb at gunpoint and “loudly and aggressively yelled, ‘Get out of the car now!'” The other trooper then grabbed Cobb, and “the Victim took his foot off the brake, and the vehicle began to move slowly forward.”

The complaint goes on to say, “Within several tenths of a second after the Defendant yelled the word ‘now,’ the Defendant fired his handgun twice at the Victim’s torso, striking the Victim both times. After the Victim was shot, the Victim’s vehicle increased its acceleration forward as Trooper A’s torso remained inside the vehicle; Trooper A and the Defendant continued stepping forward to keep pace with the Victim’s vehicle for 6-10 feet until they both lost their footing and fell to the ground.”

The car kept rolling forward on Interstate 94, so the troopers got into their squad cars and drove after Cobb. His car had gone about a quarter mile down the road before it hit the median.

They got out of their cars and ran to Cobb’s door and were seen on the dashcam pulling him out of the car and attempting life-saving measures, but Cobb was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines for second-degree unintentional murder is 10 to 15 years in prison.

___