A Wright County deputy is on administrative leave after county officials say he shot and killed an armed driver during a traffic stop, according to a press release on Saturday morning. 

The scene — which was cleared out by about 2:00 p.m. — appeared to be a cul de sac next to a playground in a residential area on Ivory Avenue NE near the City of St. Michael.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was on scene investigating well into the afternoon.

So far, Wright County said it started with an early morning traffic stop made by a deputy on Ivory Ave. NE. Then the driver — who 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS was told was the only person in the stopped car — got out with a weapon and “confronted the deputy and refused to comply with the deputy’s commands,” according to that initial press release. 

It’s unclear the nature of the confrontation or how long it lasted, officials just said it “resulted in the deputy discharging his firearm, striking the subject.”

According to the press release, life-saving measures were started immediately, but the driver died at the scene.

About 8 hours later, a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew witnessed a deputy squad car and another non-emergency vehicle being towed from the scene as investigators wrapped up, leaving the street quiet once again.

Multiple neighbors reported hearing what sounded like two gunshots, and then three more shots before first responders came flooding in.

“We woke up to the sound of like, maybe five or four gunshots,” shared Jennifer Carbert. 

She and her husband, Mark Carbert, got the jolting wake-up call just after 4:45 a.m.

“After we heard the gunshots, I looked out the window and we just saw the one deputy car out there. And then within five seconds, there was another and in a couple of minutes, there were a dozen cop cars out there that were flying down the street,” Mark Carbert added.

The couple witnessed the flood of flashing lights from their back window a few houses away.

“So it was kind of an unusual, it was an unusual thing for us to see,” Jennifer Carbert reacted, adding, “It’s upsetting that it’s not as shocking as it maybe would have been, you know, in years past. It feels like it’s just all too common.”

Investigators did not share what type of weapon the driver had, whether they used it, or if the deputy was injured during the traffic stop.