MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Two Minneapolis police officers suffered gunshot wounds, a suspect was killed and a motorcyclist died in a collision with a squad SUV Friday afternoon — all during a chase on the city’s south side.
The officers were shot, according to police, in a house near the intersection of Bryant Avenue and 27th Street South. They are currently in satisfactory condition at a city hospital.
“This has truly been an intense and changeling day for the Minneapolis Police Department and the city of Minneapolis,” said Chief Janeé Harteau during a press conference Friday night.
At the press conference, the chief said it all started when a resident called police around 2 p.m. reporting they saw a burglary suspect near 2743 Lyndale Avenue South. Officers responded and saw the suspect, who fled in a vehicle that struck a squad car and almost struck an officer.
Not long after, the car carrying the suspect crashed, and a foot chase ensued.
After police set up a perimeter, another resident reported that someone broke into his home. An officer with a police dog responded and entered the home on the 2700 block of Bryant Avenue. Other officers also entered the home to assist the K-9 officer. An intense struggle followed after the suspect attacked the police dog.
Elizabeth Thompson, a witness, said she saw the officers go into the house.
“Then, all of a sudden, everyone was shouting,” Thompson said. “They said, ‘Shots fired, shots fired. Officer down.’”
The two officers, both men who were assisting the K-9 officer, were shot in the struggle. The suspect was also shot, and killed. The police dog suffered no injuries and is with his handler.
A source told WCCO that the suspect got hold of one of the officer’s guns and shot both officers. Police, however, have not confirmed this.
The officers suffered gunshot in their legs. Emergency crews brought them to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where they are in stable condition.
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Also on Friday, a squad SUV responding to the shooting collided with a motorcycle near the intersection of Blaisdell Avenue and 26th Street South. Two people were on the motorcycle when the collision happened, and one, a man, was killed in the crash. The other person on the motorcycle, a woman, suffered injuries and was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. The officer involved was not injured.
“This is a tragic situation for all involved,” Harteau said Friday night. “I want to extend my sympathies to the family of the deceased male on the motorcycle.”
A source, who does not wish to be named, told WCCO that the woman is in critical condition (although police say she is in satisfactory condition). The source also said the motorcycle hit the back passenger side of the police SUV, which was going through the intersection on a red light with sirens at 50 mph.
No names have yet been released.
Streets in the area were closed to traffic following the shooting so that emergency crews could get the injured to the Hennepin County Medical Center.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said he visited the two officers at the hospital.
Visited 2 officers shot in hospital and blessed both stable. Pls keep them and their families in prayers, and thank police for bravery
— Mayor R.T. Rybak (@MayorRTRybak) May 10, 2013
Police said the dead suspect has a lengthy arrest history.
Meanwhile, across the city, another unrelated shooting happened. A shooter walked into a north Minneapolis home and killed a man in front of five children.
“The [north Minneapolis shooting] is completely isolated, but it was all in a relatively short period of time; so it was very taxing as we had three separate critical incidents occurring at the same time,” Harteau said.
