Hennepin County Attorney Clears Shooter in Fatal Road Rage Incident
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says a road rage shooting in Maple Grove last year was an act of self-defense.
The gunman will not face criminal charges.
William Haire, a 61-year-old Buffalo resident, was shot in April 2022 near County Road 30 and Garland Lane. He later died in the hospital.
William Haire, a 61-year-old Buffalo resident, was shot in April 2022 near County Road 30 and Garland Lane. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office says the shooting was self defense.
Shooting Occurs After Driver Followed for 40-plus Miles
Haire and another driver, a then 30-year-old man from Minneapolis, got into an argument near St. Cloud.
“[Haire] followed the subject of the investigation for over 40 miles, while driving erratically and using racial slurs,” according to Shawn Daye, executive assistant to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.
Daye said the driver made three efforts to tell Haire to leave him alone.
“While the subject was standing on the road, the deceased then sped his car directly at the subject,” Daye said.
He believed that Haire was attempting to run him over and kill him, according to Daye.
“Based on this documented and corroborated behavior of the deceased, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office found that this belief was credible and reasonable,” Daye said. “Accordingly, with a credible and reasonable belief that one is in immediate threat of great bodily harm or death – which would certainly occur if one was run down by a vehicle as a pedestrian – the subject was entitled by law to use deadly force to abate the threat.”
After the shooting, Haire and the other driver left the scene.
Police found Haire after he crashed into road signs near Interstate 94 and Maple Grove Parkway. EMTs transported him to North Memorial Hospital, where he died approximately two hours later.
The shooter turned himself into the Maple Grove Police Department. He legally possessed the firearm used in the shooting, police said.
See also: Suspect Arrested in Maple Grove Road Rage Shooting, Dispute Lasted 40 Miles
