By David Chanen, The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis Police Chief Bill McManus said Wednesday that it was time to publicly squash a rumor that has been circulating for a year - that officer Duy Ngo shot himself to avoid military duty.
“After looking at the forensic reports and talking to the investigators, I don’t know why it persisted for so long,” McManus said. “I would be negligent if I didn’t address it.”
Tackling the divisiveness the rumor was creating in the department has been a priority for McManus, who was sworn in as chief just nine days ago. It was brought to his attention two months ago, when he was researching the department.
Surrounded by Ngo, 31, his wife and daughter and top-ranking officers, McManus apologized to Ngo at a news conference Wednesday.
He repeatedly said there was no conceivable way the officer’s injuries were self-inflicted.
Ngo was shot Feb. 25, 2003 by a man who came up to his car when he was doing plain-clothes surveillance. He chased the man and radioed for help. Officer Charles Storlie, who was among the first officers to respond, mistook him for the suspect and shot him at least six times with an MP-5 submachine gun.
Ngo, who has been on medical leave since the shooting, said he has waited a long time to hear McManus’ words and that this will be the fresh start he needs to heal.
“Whatever was being said about me was absolutely untrue,” Ngo said. “The chief got the opportunity to tell the truth.”
Before the news conference at City Hall, McManus asked several members of his command staff, his aide, the head of the homicide unit, a city attorney who works with the department and the president of the Vietnamese Community of Minnesota to stand behind him. As the new chief, McManus is looking for an opportunity to show solidarity with the troops, said Mike Freeman, who was Hennepin County attorney for eight years until 1998.
“Frankly, this was a real smart thing, because the Duy Ngo case has been sitting for so long,” he said. “This is not a slam on the former chief, and he had his own strengths, but I think McManus is the kind of chief the city needs now.”
Rybak had been critical of former Chief Robert Olson for not being a more visible leader. He wouldn’t comment about whether he had pushed Olson to take a similar action on the Ngo case, but said he expects McManus to stand up for cops when they do the right thing, hold them accountable when they don’t and be honest when a mistake is made and correct information when it’s wrong.
The public support of an officer of color also bodes well for McManus, Freeman said.
“The Duy supporters will say it was about time something was done,” he said. “The others will say the new guy is making a statement. It’s showing a sense of where he is at.”
McManus said he didn’t know why or who started the rumor about Ngo, but he had been hearing it so frequently from officers and other sources that it was becoming unhealthy for the organization. McManus said he was convinced the rumor was widespread enough that holding a news conference would be the most effective way to stop it.
“If there is controversy over an issue, no matter what it is, I will dispel any rumors and get the story straight,” he said.
McManus told the internal affairs unit to complete its investigation into the case by Wednesday, and he is expecting their report soon. He also planned to send an e-mail to the department detailing the news conference, including Storlie, who is on military duty overseas. The department is actively investigating who shot at Ngo and has some good leads, said Lt. Mike Carlson.
Before Wednesday, McManus had been going to daily roll call and asking officers to “find it in their heart to give Duy a call.” Anyone could be an hour away from being the next Duy Ngo, he said.
Acting Deputy Chief Tim Dolan said police officers are going to be back-seat drivers when they hear about a critical incident within the department. Rumors run rampant, and there has been some “pretty strange stuff floating out there over Duy’s case.”
“The chief will be out front,” he said. “He’s not going to be sitting on the fence. If you’re wrong, he’s going to go after you. If you’re right, he will be in your corner.”
Ngo said he was disappointed in Deputy Chief Lucy Gerold’s response when asked about the department’s lack of support while he recovered from the shooting. She said several officers were with him at the hospital the night he was shot and made several other attempts to visit him. Olson said he called Ngo several times after the incident.
“Officer Ngo has been through a terrible year, one which is unimaginable as far as pain,” she said after the news conference. “I’m sorry for any role that the department might have played in hindering his healing.”
Ngo, who was shot in the left arm and leg and groin, said he was told by doctors that he will never be 100 percent, but he is optimistic about his recovery. He plans to go back to work at the state Gang Strike Force in two weeks.
In June, Ngo filed a federal suit against Storlie, two unnamed supervisors and the city.
Ngo said he believes the rumor started at the department’s Third Precinct, where he worked before the shooting. He said he feels the precinct is a hostile place and that as recently as two days ago he heard rumors that McManus was bribing him to make everybody look good.
Police union president Sgt. John Delmonico said if Ngo’s case had been resolved more quickly by the previous administration, rumors and accusations might never have started.
“Many officers formed their own opinions, good or bad, because they weren’t kept informed on the case,” he said. “It’s nice to see McManus make a quick decision.”