Domestic call in Oakdale results in gunfire exchange, standoff; suspect in custody
An overnight standoff that began after shots were fired at officers in Oakdale has ended with one person in custody.
While police say no one was injured, members of law enforcement agencies from across the metro rushed to the area to help the Oakdale officers in a situation that was similar to what unfolded in Burnsville last month.
RELATED: 3 Burnsville first responders killed after domestic call escalates to gunfire; suspect also dead
The incident started as a domestic call involving a man with a gun at around 10 p.m. Monday, and police learned a woman and her baby were in the car with that man.
Nick Newton, chief of the Oakdale Police Department, says when officers caught up to the car near 10th Street and Hadley Avenue, the suspect didn’t stop and instead led officers to a home in the 100 block of Greystone Avenue. There, Chief Newton says the suspect — later identified as 25-year-old Devione Leeante Malone of St. Paul — got out and started shooting at officers as he ran inside the home.
Four officers, at one point, were pinned behind their squad cars as the suspect continued to fire.
Newton says at least one officer did fire back at the suspect, but the number of rounds exchanged is still being determined.
The SWAT team eventually got to the scene and was able to get officers out of the line of fire with the help of an armored vehicle. None of the officers were injured, the department noted.
Police say Malone barricaded himself inside the home and officers evacuated nearby homes.
As for the woman and the baby, they are both safe and unharmed, and Malone eventually surrendered shortly after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. He remains in jail for several offenses but, as of Tuesday afternoon, hasn’t yet been formally charged.
“Very disheartening to see this happen to our police officers,” said Chief Newton. “They’re there to help someone who was involved in a domestic situation, and they were confronted with a person who pointed a firearm at them and started shooting rounds at them.”
Chief Newton adds his officers have been to the home before but couldn’t immediately tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS exactly how many times they were called to that address or what for.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is handling the use-of-force investigation while the Washington County Sheriff’s Office investigates the criminal side.