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Tim Nelson

Stearns Co. backs hospital guard's actions after deputy shot

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Danny Leroy Hammond
Danny Hammond in an undated mug shot.
Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Corrections

Stearns County authorities have said a St. Cloud Hospital security guard was justified in using a Taser to subdue a man who shot and killed an Aitkin County sheriff's deputy.

In the October incident, Danny Hammond died after shooting Steven Sandberg with the deputy's own gun. A letter from the Stearns County attorney to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the security guard, Ricky Hess, responded to the shooting and found Hammond lying on the floor of his room, near the wounded deputy.

The letter said Hess kicked away a pistol laying on the floor and tried to handcuff Hammond, but he wouldn't cooperate, and even after another deputy arrived, Hammond wouldn't submit. Hess used a Taser on Hammond and subsequently handcuffed him.

Hammond wasn't breathing when he was taken out of his room so medical personnel could reach the fallen deputy. He subsequently died, and an autopsy said a combination of the Taser, a pre-existing heart condition, a struggle with Sandberg and a recent drug overdose all contributed to his death.