We had a reader anonymously comment that we weren't telling the whole story. He or she seemed pretty irate that we weren't thorough enough. At the time, princewally and I were simply not yet unaware of the whole story. I've finally found the time to follow up and here is the added info the commenter was referring to.
It appears that Walley was on a suicidal rampage:
Meeker County authorities alerted the State Patrol that they had received information at 2:15 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26 that Walley may be suicidal and had made comments of suicide by law enforcement using his Dodge Neon.After stealing their vehicle and leading police on a high speed chase, they used a PIT maneuver to stop Walley. Resulting in two burning cars. When police demanded that Walley exit the burning vehicle, they say they saw him point what looked like a gun at them, at which point they shot him. Walley then asked them to shoot him again.
Walley had also told a Paynesville couple, whose home he had burglarized, that he wanted someone to kill him or the police to kill him.
Walley assaulted the homeowners and threatened them with what they believed to be a gun, yet he was asking the homeowners if they had any guns in the house so someone could kill him.
Well, it turns he didn't have a gun, but rather a " a tool configured in a way that appeared to be a handgun." But it was apparently convincing enough to the LEOs involved that they shot back at the threat.
Walley admitted that when he exited the vehicle his intention was for police to shoot him. He also admitted that he searched the vehicle for a tool that could be made to look like a weapon, which would require officers to react with force.
How does this relate to the reported home invasion? Well Walley is being charged in with "threatening with a dangerous weapon" and "threatening an individual while inside the home" along with the burglary charges associated with the home invasion. It's not clear that the "threatening with a dangerous weapon" charge is related to the home invasion or just the police-involved shooting, but it's pretty clear that Walley was acting unpredictably. It's easy to monday morning quarter back when we now know that Walley just wanted to die and that he didn't have a gun. But the Paynesville couple was likely still very scared and Walley showed a lack of concern for others' safety by crashing his own vehicle and speeding from police in the stolen vehicle. That he didn't actually have a gun in the end, doesn't negate the fear he created for everyone who was involved.
