2 Hennepin County deputies hurt during shooting while serving warrant in Minnetonka, suspect dead
Multiple sources confirmed that two Hennepin County deputies are expected to survive after being injured during an exchange of gunfire while executing a warrant in Minnetonka on Wednesday.
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office has since confirmed that, adding that deputies were serving a warrant just before 11:20 a.m. when the shooting happened.
One of the two deputies was brought to the Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening but serious injuries, while the other was treated at the scene but wasn’t shot, the sheriff’s office says.
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt confirmed the armed suspect died at the scene. That person hasn’t yet been publicly identified.
Officials say the deputies were looking for a person wanted on a felony warrant at the home. One of the deputies is an eight-year veteran, the other is a 21-year veteran.
“In my talking with the family and the injured deputy, I cannot begin to tell you the emotions that are going on right now,” Witt said.
Witt also called for an end to the violence against law enforcement, lamenting how common it’s becoming in the state.
“Assaults against law enforcement are becoming increasingly common in Minnesota. They have doubled since 2017,” Witt said. “This has got to stop. Every single day, first responders are rushing to help others, helping to keep our communities safe. They do not deserve to be threatened, they do not deserve to be assaulted, they do not deserve to be killed for trying to do their job of trying to keep the community safe.”
Witt also referenced the “unseen wounds” that first responders suffer in these incidents.
Earlier in the afternoon, Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom discussed his reaction to hearing about officers shot.
“It’s hard to describe but … police officers, in the moment, they respond because they know they have a job to do,” Boerboom said. “And now we’ll go back and, to your point, that’s when we start to think about what just happened and it’s hard. Ask our officers, it is very difficult and you’ve seen what’s happened here in the last few weeks and it’s very difficult but we also know we have a job to do and when we take care of this scene here we will go back and we will have those conversations with our officers, make sure they’re all in a good place because it is concerning.”
Police are still asking the public to avoid the area at this time but said there isn’t any threat to the public at this time. Additionally, a shelter-in-place for the area has been lifted and police say all residents may return to their homes.
A woman who works in the area tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she has seen several law enforcement vehicles from neighboring communities responding to the area.
She says she saw at least three ambulances, with an adult male being loaded into the ambulance by two officers wearing tactical gear.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnetonka Police Department, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
The BCA says it is talking to witnesses and reviewing video, including from body cameras, and asks anyone with information to call law enforcement.
While asked several times, both the sheriff’s office and BCA wouldn’t share specific information about the encounter – but, BCA Superintendent Drew Evans did say this when asked by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS to describe what happened.
“What we do know is that this individual fired at the deputies and that they returned fire. And that’s part of the investigation and we will work through exact sequencing of that and what that looks like and provide information,” Evans said.
An employee at Notre Dame Academy, which is near the active scene, says police are staging in a parking lot behind the building, but there is no threat to the academy. The school official added that they kept all students and staff inside the building as a precaution.
Law enforcement will provide additional information at a later time. Check back for updates.
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