# Brandon Rodriguez *Man fatally shot by a Hastings police sergeant in a Dakota County cemetery in July 2008.* **Brandon Rodriguez** was shot and killed by a [[Hastings]] police sergeant in a cemetery in July 2008.[^1][^2] The *[[Star Tribune]]* named the officer as Hastings Sgt. James Galland. It reported that the [[Dakota County grand jury]] that reviewed the shooting returned a "no bill," declining to indict.[^1] The project's validated dossier on Dakota County records the review system's stated basis. Every fatal officer-involved shooting in the county since 1990 goes to a grand jury, which receives "a fair and unbiased presentation" and no recommendations. The stated principle is that officers "need to be held accountable like everyone else."[^2] The project's at-issue record lists the Rodriguez shooting as the first of three fatal police shootings in the county across eleven years. All three were reviewed without charges, and none produced a prosecution.[^2] ## Who Rodriguez is identified in the record only as the person shot. The sources in the pack give no age, residence or other biographical detail.[^1] The *Star Tribune* identified the officer who fired as Hastings Sgt. James Galland.[^1] ## What The event was a fatal shooting by a police officer, followed by a grand jury review that ended in a no bill.[^1][^2] ## When The shooting took place in July 2008. The record does not give the day.[^2] ## Where The shooting took place in a cemetery in Hastings, in Dakota County, [[Minnesota]].[^2] The record does not name the cemetery.[^2] ## How The death was reviewed by a Dakota County grand jury, which returned a no bill.[^1] Grand jury proceedings are secret. The record does not establish what evidence was presented or why the jurors declined to indict.[^2] ## How many The *Star Tribune* reported on officer-involved shootings investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) from 2003 to 2013, a period that includes the Rodriguez shooting. It counted 83 shootings across 65 departments, 44 of them fatal and 39 causing injury. Of the 83, it reported that 82 were found justified and one was not.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record sets the Rodriguez outcome beside two later fatal police shootings in Dakota County:[^2] | Case | Date | Outcome | |---|---|---| | Brandon Rodriguez, Hastings | July 2008 | Grand jury no bill | | [[Map Kong]], [[Burnsville]] | June 22, 2016 | Grand jury: justified | | [[Isak Aden]], [[Eagan]] | July 2, 2019 | [[county attorney\|County attorney]] declination, Nov. 13, 2019 | The record sums the three cases as three fatal police shootings in one county over eleven years: three findings of no charges and zero prosecutions.[^2] On June 4, 2020, the [[Minnesota County Attorneys Association]] voted at an emergency meeting to hand every police-involved death case to the state Attorney General. [[Backstrom]], whom the dossier records as having twice led the association, supported the transfer. He said it would "improve public trust and bring consistency."[^2] The change applied going forward only. The dossier records that no prior case, including the 2008 Rodriguez review, was reopened.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: *Star Tribune*, *Over and over, shooting probes exonerate officers* (date not given in pack). Establishes the fatal shooting of Brandon Rodriguez by Hastings Sgt. James Galland, the grand jury's "no bill," and BCA-investigated officer-involved shooting counts for 2003–2013. https://startribune.com/over-and-over-shooting-probes-exonerate-officers/256790741 [^2]: Minnesota wiki, validated dossier section *Backstrom_Apex_Dossier_2026-09-02.md* §III and at-issue record AI-Dakota-028 (2026-09-02). Establishes the July 2008 cemetery shooting, the Dakota County grand jury practice since 1990 and its stated principle, the Kong and Aden outcomes, and the Minnesota County Attorneys Association vote of June 4, 2020. The dossier's source URLs for the Kong, Aden and association items are not in the pack's allowed list.