Months after being shot by a Plymouth police officer during a domestic disturbance call last November, a 44-year-old man has been sent to prison. Atanas Hristev was sentenced Monday to five years behind bars after pleading guilty to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Court records show he entered the plea late last month, and as part of the deal prosecutors dropped a first-degree attempted burglary charge.
According to CBS Minnesota, recent court filings formally record both the guilty plea and the five-year term. The case began when officers responded to a Nov. 25, 2025 call about a man knocking on a window at a Plymouth apartment. During that response, police later located Hristev in the apartment complex parking lot.
Dash-cam Video Captures Confrontation
Dash-camera footage from a squad car shows Hristev with a fully extended arm, pointing a pistol at the responding officer, according to KSTP. Investigators recovered a handgun and spent shell casings at the scene. The video also shows the gun dropping near Hristev after he is struck by police gunfire.
Veteran Officer On Leave As State Review Continues
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has identified the officer who fired as Officer Jacob Coopet. In a news release, the agency said Coopet has 23 years of law enforcement experience and has been placed on critical-incident leave by the city of Plymouth while the investigation runs its course. The BCA plans to present its findings to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for review once the probe is finished, a standard step in police use-of-force cases.
Caller Said She Feared For Her Life
The woman who phoned 911 told officers she feared for her life because of what she described as prior threats from Hristev, and said she had filed a report with Champlin police the day before the shooting, according to CBS Minnesota. Prosecutors said evidence such as the squad-car video and the recovered shell casings supported the second-degree assault charge that Hristev admitted to in his plea.
The BCA has said it will submit its investigative file to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office without any recommendation, which is routine for officer-involved use-of-force cases. Any civil or administrative proceedings would follow their own separate paths. Community members and local officials are likely to watch that review closely, and even with Hristev’s criminal case now resolved, the shooting itself will remain under scrutiny until those other reviews are complete.
