Mahnomen County Sheriff releases video of deputy-involved shooting

Sheriff says a false narrative on social media claims that Deputy Dakota Czerny attempted to murder Shequoya Basswood 

MAHNOMEN, Minn. (KVRR) – The Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office has released dashcam video of a shooting that involved a Mahnomen County deputy in March.

Sheriff Josh Guenther says the video shows a portion of the shooting that occurred in Mahnomen County on March 13th, 2022 involving Deputy Dakota Czerny and 20-year-old Shequoya Deanne Basswood of Mahnomen.

Guenther says there is a narrative being pushed through social media from a coalition out of the Twin Cities area claiming that Czerny attempted to murder Basswood.  The sheriff says the group created a “Wanted” poster, which raises serious questions about Czerny’s safety.

Czerny responded to the area north of Naytahwaush to assist another deputy with a traffic stop which turned into a pursuit.  He followed the vehicle into Naytahwaush, performed a pursuit intervention technique which sent the vehicle into the ditch, and then took several of the passengers into custody.

The sheriff says at one point, Czerny saw a gun in Basswood’s possession and began to retreat away from her, drawing his firearm, and ordering her to drop the gun. Basswood then turned toward Czerny, cycled the action on the firearm, and pointed it at him. Deputy Czerny fired his firearm, striking Basswood.

Guenther says Czerny requested medical attention for Basswood and began to render medical aid to her as soon as the scene was safe.

Basswood is facing Attempted Murder, Assault, Fleeing and several gun-related charges.