Police fatally shoot 17-year-old during traffic stop in North Dakota’s Bismarck

BISMARCK, N.D. — Police shot and killed a 17-year-old early Sunday during a traffic stop in a mall parking lot in Bismarck, North Dakota, while investigating the teen for a reported shooting.

Police responded about 12:15 a.m. Sunday to gunfire in the area, according to a news release. Officers determined a shooting occurred near a hotel. Police subsequently began investigating 17-year-old Nicholas Bruington, of Bismarck.

About 1:50 a.m., officers stopped a vehicle in which Bruington was a passenger, near the Scheels sporting goods store in the Kirkwood Mall parking lot. Police said Bruington “had a firearm and did not follow commands.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Bruington pointed the gun at police. None of the officers were injured.

Three officers shot at Bruington. Officers performed life-saving procedures until Bruington was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting, per the police department’s protocol. The three officers are on administrative leave, pending the probe. The news release did not identify them.

The other juvenile is not believed to be injured, according to police.