Ryan Londregan is a Minnesota State Patrol trooper who fatally shot 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis on July 31, 2023. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged him with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter in January 2024, then dismissed all three charges five months later after the defense disclosed evidence she said made a conviction unattainable. Londregan was later exonerated by an internal State Patrol investigation and returned to active duty in August 2024.
The Shooting on I-94
Around 1:50 a.m. on July 31, 2023, Londregan and two other troopers, Brett Seide and Garrett Erickson, pulled Cobb over on I-94 in north Minneapolis for missing taillights.1ABC News. Murder Charges Dropped Against Minnesota Officer Ryan Londregan During the stop the troopers learned Cobb was wanted in a neighboring county for violating a protective order and were told to take him into custody.2ABC News. Family of Ricky Cobb II Sues Trooper Charged With Murder The troopers had not discussed a plan for handling non-cooperation or extracting a driver.3Star Tribune. Special Counsel Found Little Evidence to Counter Defense That Shooting Was Justified
Body camera footage showed the troopers standing outside the vehicle ordering Cobb to exit. He refused and began trying to drive away. As Seide leaned the upper half of his body through the driver’s window, Cobb shifted the car into drive.3Star Tribune. Special Counsel Found Little Evidence to Counter Defense That Shooting Was Justified Seven seconds passed between Londregan opening the passenger door and drawing his weapon. He fired two rounds into Cobb’s torso.4CBS News Minnesota. Murder Charges Dropped Against Minnesota State Trooper Ryan Londregan The car kept moving, threw two troopers to the ground, and struck a median. Cobb died at the scene.1ABC News. Murder Charges Dropped Against Minnesota Officer Ryan Londregan
Seide later told investigators he believed the vehicle was being used as a weapon and said Londregan “saved my life.”5MPR News. Minnesota BCA Releases Case File on Fatal Shooting of Ricky Cobb II
The Criminal Charges
Moriarty charged Londregan on January 24, 2024 with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter. The complaint alleged he “did not follow” State Patrol training on safe engagement during traffic stops, and the charges were built on an investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.6Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Londregan Charging Decision
The case was expected to be the first test of Minnesota’s revised use-of-deadly-force statute, enacted after the murder of George Floyd. The revised law set a higher bar for lethal force, requiring the threat to be articulated with specificity, reasonably likely to occur, and addressable through deadly force without unreasonable delay.7Star Tribune. Why the Trial of Trooper Londregan Won’t Be Like the Others Legal scholars noted the statute made shooting into a moving vehicle difficult to justify, since doing so might not reasonably prevent death or bodily harm and could put other officers in greater danger.8University of St. Thomas. Rachel Moran on State Trooper’s Trial and New Statute
Investigators struggled to build the case. About 37 state troopers either refused BCA interviews or did not respond to requests, and the troopers at the scene delayed submitting their reports for more than a week.9Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Londregan Case Report Londregan himself never agreed to be interviewed by the BCA or prosecutors.3Star Tribune. Special Counsel Found Little Evidence to Counter Defense That Shooting Was Justified After the lead prosecutor from her office stepped aside in April 2024, Moriarty brought in the Washington, D.C. firm Steptoe LLP as special counsel under a $1 million billing cap.10Star Tribune. Special Counsel Hired by Moriarty Bills $578K in Londregan Case
Why the Charges Were Dropped
On June 2, 2024, Moriarty filed a notice dismissing all three charges. Two pieces of evidence disclosed by the defense in late April drove the decision. On April 29, defense counsel revealed Londregan would testify that he saw Cobb reaching for Trooper Seide’s firearm during the struggle. Second, a Minnesota State Patrol trainer submitted a sworn declaration stating he had not instructed officers to refrain from shooting into a moving vehicle during an extraction, even though avoiding it was considered best practice.11Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Statement on Dismissal of Londregan Case
Moriarty explained that Minnesota law required the state to disprove Londregan’s justification for deadly force beyond a reasonable doubt, and the video did not clearly support or refute his claim about the gun. Continuing, she said, would violate her ethical obligations. She also stated the dismissal did not exonerate Londregan or validate his actions and that Cobb’s life might have been saved if the situation had been handled differently.11Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Statement on Dismissal of Londregan Case
The Steptoe report, released July 26, 2024, found that the prosecution’s own use-of-force expert had drafted an opinion stating a reasonable officer in Londregan’s position “may have believed” Seide was at imminent threat of death or serious injury at the moment force was used.3Star Tribune. Special Counsel Found Little Evidence to Counter Defense That Shooting Was Justified Multiple State Patrol officials and academy instructors submitted sworn declarations supporting the use of force. The report also found the troopers had “several non-violent options that could have prevented Mr. Cobb’s death” and concluded Moriarty’s initial decision to prosecute on the evidence then available was “justified.”9Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Londregan Case Report
Political Pressure on the Case
At Londregan’s first court appearance in January 2024, dozens of state troopers protested outside the Hennepin County courthouse carrying signs reading “Shame On You Moriarty.”7Star Tribune. Why the Trial of Trooper Londregan Won’t Be Like the Others The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association called the prosecution “political,” with general counsel Imran Ali stating that Moriarty “divided our communities all in the name of politics.”12Star Tribune. Hennepin County Attorney Will Drop Murder Charges Against State Trooper Defense attorney Christopher Madel called the case “open season on law enforcement” and demanded Moriarty’s resignation.1ABC News. Murder Charges Dropped Against Minnesota Officer Ryan Londregan
Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation, including Reps. Michelle Fischbach, Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, and Pete Stauber, said the prosecution was “politically motivated” and asked the House Judiciary Committee for federal oversight.13MinnPost. Congress Wades Into the Trooper Londregan Case Governor Tim Walz called the prosecution “flawed” and revealed after the dismissal that he had been prepared to use his statutory authority to reassign the case from Moriarty to Attorney General Keith Ellison if she had not dropped the charges.14MPR News. Moriarty Dismisses Charges Against Trooper Ryan Londregan That reassignment power has been used only twice in modern Minnesota history.15Star Tribune. Will Gov. Walz Reassign Prosecution of Trooper Londregan to AG Ellison
Moriarty described the case as a “political circus” and accused the defense and law enforcement of using “scorched earth tactics” to intimidate those seeking accountability, reporting that members of her prosecution team received death threats.11Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Statement on Dismissal of Londregan Case
The Cobb family rejected the dismissal. Family attorney Bakari Sellers said “all you have to do to get away with murder is to bully the prosecutors enough and the charges will just go away.”1ABC News. Murder Charges Dropped Against Minnesota Officer Ryan Londregan The family also asked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI to investigate the shooting and State Patrol training practices. DOJ declined to comment, and no federal civil rights investigation has been publicly announced.16Star Tribune. Family of Ricky Cobb II to Ask DOJ to Investigate Minnesota State Patrol
Internal Investigation and Return to Duty
On July 31, 2024, one year to the day after the shooting, the Minnesota State Patrol’s internal affairs investigation exonerated Londregan of all allegations. Assistant Chief Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger issued a memo confirming the finding.17MPR News. Patrol Investigation Clears Minnesota State Trooper of Wrongdoing The internal complaint had been filed by then-State Patrol chief Col. Matt Langer, and the investigation drew sworn declarations from four current troopers and one retired sergeant in Londregan’s defense.18KSTP. Londregan Cleared After Minnesota State Patrol Internal Affairs Review Troopers Seide and Erickson had already returned to full duty.19Fox 9. MN State Trooper Londregan Cleared in Ricky Cobb Shooting
After completing training he had missed during a year of paid leave, Londregan returned to active duty with the State Patrol in Golden Valley in mid-August 2024, where he remains stationed.20CBS News Minnesota. Ryan Londregan Returns to Work With Minnesota State Patrol
The Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit
On April 17, 2024, Cobb’s mother, Nyra Miller-Fields, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota against Londregan and Seide, alleging unreasonable seizure and excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.2ABC News. Family of Ricky Cobb II Sues Trooper Charged With Murder
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel dismissed the claims against Londregan in October 2024 on qualified immunity grounds. The court found it was “objectively reasonable for an officer to use deadly force to neutralize what he reasonably believed was a risk of serious physical harm to others, including a fellow officer” and declined to “second-guess whether alternative actions by police officers might conceivably have been available.”21KSTP. Lawsuit Against Trooper Londregan Dismissed in Federal Court The court also found no constitutional violation in boxing in Cobb’s vehicle, concluding there was a reasonable belief he was fleeing and posed a threat to safety.22CBS News Minnesota. Cobb Family Civil Lawsuit Dismissed
In January 2025, Judge Brasel dismissed the remaining claims against Seide on the same grounds, finding body camera footage showed his actions were “objectively reasonable” and that it was reasonable for him to view Cobb shifting the car into drive as an immediate threat.23Star Tribune. Civil Lawsuit by Family of Ricky Cobb II Against Minnesota State Trooper Dismissed
Miller-Fields appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, filing notice on November 26, 2024. Oral arguments were heard on March 18, 2026, and the appeal remains pending as of mid-2026.24CourtListener. Nyra Miller-Fields v. Ryan Londregan The Eighth Circuit ruling is the only remaining legal thread from the shooting.