Grand Jury Clears Police in Fatal Columbia Heights Shooting

ANOKA -- An Anoka County grand jury has cleared two police officers in the fatal shooting of a man in Columbia Heights in November.

Officers from Columbia Heights and Fridley responded to a report of a man with a gun at a Columbia Heights business on Nov. 24.

Columbia Heights Police Chief Scott Nadeau says the officers encountered 45-year-old Michael Kirvelay, who had what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun. Nadeau said Friday that Kirvelay was holding a woman, later determined to be his sister, as hostage and threatened her. Nadeau says the officers feared for the woman's life and safety, so they fired.

Officers later discovered Kirvelay had a "replica firearm or BB gun."

Kirvelay's family contends "dispatch audio proves they knew the gun wasn't real."