Man blinded by pepper ball shot by Fargo Police

FARGO, N.D. – It all began with Stephanie Patel’s post on the social media platform Nextdoor over the weekend.

She claims her son, 27-year-old Tyler Patel, was shot with pepper balls by Fargo police officers on October 2nd at 1300 Gateway Drive causing him to be blinded in one eye. Patel was arrested for terrorizing and preventing arrest. Police are still investigating the incident.

Stephanie says her son was having an emotional and mental health emergency.

Investigations Lt. Chris Helmick says the officers were part of a team trained to work with people who have mental health issues.

Police say they have been in contact with Stephanie since she went public.

“Deputy Chief Osmundson reached out to the mom today and spoke with her extensively about the situation and details as much as he could and listened to her frustrations, so we have been compassionate with her and we’ve reached out to her and we’ve been in communication with her,” Jessica Schindeldecker with Fargo Police said.

“It’s not about somebody being good and somebody being bad and somebody being evil. It’s about finding real solutions so we can all live in a better community,” Stephanie Patel explained.

Stephanie says her son has had bipolar disorder since he was 13.

Police officers say they resorted to the pepper balls because Patel was uncooperative. He is still in jail.