Smith was a local musician who went by the nickname Wince Me Boi. Years prior to the June 3 incident, he had boasted on social media posts that he would shoot police officers and not surrender, which drew controversy in the aftermath of the June 3 shooting. Smith had successfully fled in his car from Bloomington, Minnesota, police in who attempted to arrest him in 2020 on several warrants, and was facing a September 2021 hearing related to the high-speed chase from that incident.