MINNEAPOLIS– Two Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies were injured while serving an arrest warrant and a suspect was killed during an exchange of gunfire in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka on Wednesday, authorities said.
The shooting happened just before 11:20 am. One deputy was taken to a hospital with injuries that were “very serious” but not life-threatening, Sheriff Dawanna Witt said at a news conference, while the other was treated at the scene and released.
The suspect died on the spot. Investigators were still determining whether it was the person named in the felony warrant, said Drew Evans, chief inspector of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is leading the investigation. The suspect fired first and the officers returned fire, Evans said.
The incident occurred two months after the fatal shootings in Burnsville of two police officers and a firefighter-paramedic during a long standoff that began with a report of domestic violence and ended after the suspect committed suicide.
Witt said attacks on law enforcement in Minnesota are on the rise, doubling since 2017.
“Every day, first responders rush to help others in hopes of keeping our community safe,” Witt said. “They don’t deserve to be threatened, they don’t deserve to be attacked, they don’t deserve to be killed for doing their job.”
Many details of the shooting remained unclear.
The deputies’ names and details of their injuries were not immediately released, although Witt said they were veterans ages eight and 21.
Officials also did not say why the person named in the warrant was wanted.
Authorities have cordoned off the area surrounding the incident. Several hours later it was still considered active, but the sheriff’s office said there was no threat to the general public.
Other agencies that assisted included the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police departments.