Ricky Cobb II Shooting: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Fatal 2023 Minneapolis Traffic-Stop Case, Leaving Lower-Court Rulings Intact

Ricky Cobb II Shooting: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Fatal 2023 Minneapolis Traffic-Stop Case, Leaving Lower-Court Rulings Intact

The Ricky Cobb shooting case has returned to the headlines in November 2026 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal connected to the fatal 2023 traffic-stop shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The decision marks another major development in the case.

What Happened to Ricky Cobb II?
Ricky Cobb II, 33, was fatally shot by Minnesota State Patrol trooper Ryan Londregan during an early-morning traffic stop on Interstate 94 on July 31, 2023.

Court records and investigative reports state that troopers initially stopped Cobb for driving without headlights. They later learned he was wanted in connection with an alleged violation of a felony protection order.

Troopers asked Cobb to leave his vehicle. During the struggle, Cobb put the vehicle in drive while one trooper was partly inside the car. Londregan fired his weapon, striking Cobb. The vehicle moved forward before officers stopped it farther along the interstate. Cobb died at the scene.

Investigation and Criminal Case
Investigators recovered a handgun from inside Cobb’s vehicle but said available video did not show Cobb holding it.

Londregan was later charged with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault, and second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors initially argued that the deadly force was not justified.

In June 2024, however, Hennepin County prosecutors dismissed the criminal charges after concluding they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors said the decision was based on additional evidence and legal considerations while emphasizing that dismissal was not the same as declaring the shooting justified.

Civil Lawsuit and Latest Supreme Court Decision
Cobb’s mother, Nyra Fields-Miller, pursued a federal civil lawsuit against the troopers. Lower federal courts dismissed the lawsuit, with courts concluding that the officers were protected by qualified immunity based on circumstances captured on body-camera footage.

On November 9, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the family’s appeal. The decision leaves the lower-court rulings in place and effectively ends the federal legal challenge.