Minneapolis Star Tribune
St. Louis Park, Minn. -- A dispute involving an estranged couple in this suburb west of Minneapolis early Wednesday led to the shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of a local police officer.
The officer was shot in the leg and remains hopitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center. His name has not been released. One of the shooting victims, an unidentified man, was taken to the medical center, where he reportedly died at about 8 a.m., said Sgt. Haans Vitek of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department.
St. Louis Park and Golden Valley authorities have asked the sheriff’s department to take over the investigation, Vitek said.
The incident began as a disturbance call about 1:30 a.m., said St. Louis Park Police Chief John Luce. A woman said a man, believed to be her estranged husband, was outside her duplex, setting off her car’s alarm, Luce said.
By the time St. Louis Park police arrived, the man had fled, Vitek said. A short time later, police were called back to the duplex, where a second man, believed to be the woman’s father, had been shot.
The shooter, believed to be the woman’s estranged husband, was preparing to leave, Vitek said.
Monyea Stein, who lives about four doors from the duplex, said he was watching television at about 1:30 a.m. when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.
He went outside and saw a man lying on the sidewalk next to the front steps. Someone was performing CPR on him, Stein said.
He said he also saw two rifles lying on the ground. Police asked him to watch the weapons, he said.
Police chased the suspect in his white Ford Explorer to Golden Valley, where he rammed a police car, Vitek said. The chase ended with a shootout. The suspect was killed and the police officer, a four-year veteran of the department, was wounded.
The sheriff’s department and state crime lab officials continued their investigation Wednesday, Vitek said.