Grand jury clears officers in AHS grad Michael Tray’s shooting
Published 10:13 am Friday, March 21, 2014
Police shot Tray in parking garage last October
MINNETONKA — A Hennepin County grand jury has decided not to file charges against two Minnetonka police officers in the shooting death of 27-year-old Austin High School graduate on Oct. 23, 2013.
Tray
Officers fatally shot Michael Tray, of Austin, while he was waiting for his girlfriend in her Minnetonka apartment parking garage. Police were called on a report of a man carrying a cocked revolver.
At the time, friends and family said Tray, “wasn’t that guy,” as he didn’t have any violent criminal convictions. Minnetonka police released the names of the officers, James Comings and Ryan Smith, about a week after the shooting, but have not released further details in the investigation.
“We’re in shock,” said Jim Greer, Tray’s stepfather, last October. “We just don’t understand how this could’ve happened.”
Tray’s family declined to comment to the Star Tribune Thursday. Earlier the family said the gun was an antique .44 Magnum revolver that Tray didn’t want to leave in his car.
In a statement, Minnetonka Police Chief Mark Raquet said while the department has always believed its officers acted appropriately, the grand jury decision “doesn’t relieve the anguish” of Tray’s family.
It was the first officer-involved fatal shooting in Minnetonka history.
Tray graduated from Austin High School in 2004 and St. Cloud University in 2013, with a BS in Bio-Medicine.
