MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Scary moments for neighbors in St. Paul, who had bullets come through their homes during a police chase early Sunday morning. One of those bullets nicked a young man who was sitting in a recliner in his living room.
This all started when police got a call about a burglary near the 1700 block of Dayton Avenue around 4 a.m.
Officers spotted a suspicious vehicle in the area, and when police tried to pull the driver over, the passenger got out and ran — and the driver took off.
Police ran after the man, shots were fired and the suspect was critically injured.
Police haven’t said what led the officer to shoot, but they did recover a handgun at the scene.
This happened in the Merriam Park Neighborhood, home to a lot of families and college students like Pete, who chose not to give his last name.
“I was downstairs sleeping and I heard four or five gunshots,” he said.
The next thing Pete heard was his roommate screaming for help.
“It was a scary moment at four o’clock in the morning waking up to that,” he said.
He pointed to where a bullet came through the front of the house, through the screened-in porch and a wall of the living room.
His roommate, Charles, was sitting in a recliner when he was grazed by the bullet.
“He was holding the Gatorade bottle, nicked his wrist and then went in the Gatorade bottle and didn’t come out,” Pete said.
Across the street from them lives a family of four — mom, dad, a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old.
The father didn’t want to talk on camera but he pointed to several places where bullets from the chase hit their house and their garage.
He said they were all sleeping upstairs when their house shook from the gunfire, setting the alarm off.
When he went downstairs, he saw officers outside and eventually found a bullet in his living room.
Police are investigating whether the bullets that hit his home and the one across the street came from the officer or the suspect.
Pete said his roommate Charles went to get his wrist checked out and thankfully is going to be fine.
“If it was just a little bit different, it could have been really bad. We’re lucky that he just got nicked and nobody else got hurt, very blessed,” he said.
St. Paul Police are still looking for the driver of the vehicle.
The name of the suspect who is in critical condition hasn’t been released. Either has the officer’s.
The officer involved in the shooting is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
