Officer Matt Hendrickson was responding to a call of a man with a gun when the suspect fired a shot in his direction. Hendrickson suffered injuries to the left side of his face.
By Jana Hollingsworth
Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH, Minn. — A Duluth police officer was shot in the face early Saturday morning in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood and suffered superficial wounds.
Officer Matt Hendrickson responded shortly after midnight to a complaint about a man with a shotgun near an apartment building at 34 E. Fifth St., Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said.
Ramsay said Hendrickson saw the suspect, a 53-year-old Duluth man, enter the apartment building through a broken window. With about 20 feet between them, Hendrickson asked the man to come outside.
“Within a second or two, Hendrickson observed a shotgun held by the suspect and then a muzzle blast from the shotgun,” Ramsay said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.
The police chief said the suspect fired a 12-gauge shotgun and wounded Hendrickson before exiting the back of the building where he was met by other officers. The man resisted arrest and a Taser was used on him twice, Ramsay said.
Ramsay said he expects the suspect, who is being held in the St. Louis County Jail, to be charged with second-degree attempted murder by mid-week. The News Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged.
Hendrickson, 30, was taken to St. Luke’s hospital where he was treated for injuries to the left side of his face, and then released Saturday morning, Ramsay said. Following department policy, Hendrickson has been placed on administrative leave.
Hendrickson, a graduate of Anoka (Minn.) High School and North Hennepin Community College, spent four years in the Navy and worked as a police officer in Plantation, Fla., for three years. He has served on the local police force for a year and a half. His father is a Maple Grove, Minn., police officer.
The last time a Duluth police officer was shot was Dec. 15, 1995, when a bullet entered Officer Pete Stauber’s squad car and grazed his head.
Ramsay said the suspect, who lives in the apartment building, fired two shots: one into the building before police arrived and another toward Hendrickson. Hendrickson never fired a weapon, the police chief said.
Ramsay said Hendrickson identified himself as a police officer to the suspect and was wearing a uniform. He said there were “no visual barriers” between the suspect and the officer.
No other injuries were reported and no other arrests were made. Ramsay did not yet know why the suspect fired into the building or if alcohol or drugs were involved.
Officer Barry Midthun, who is the neighborhood’s community officer, said the suspect has been involved in neighborhood disputes but has never been charged with a crime in the area. The incident remains under investigation.
Ramsay said the incident is uncharacteristic of the block in which it occurred.
“It’s a powerful reminder of the daily dangers that police officers face,” he said. “There is no other profession that I am aware of other than … the military, where individuals have to run toward gunfire or individuals with guns.”
Copyright 2007 Duluth News Tribune