Suspect killed in shootout with Minneapolis police; motorcyclist also killed

Published 5:23 pm Saturday, May 11, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS — A traffic stop on Minneapolis’ south side ended Friday with two police officers shot and the suspect dead in a shootout, and a motorcyclist dead after colliding with a squad car rushing to the scene, police said.

The two male officers were in stable condition at nearby Hennepin County Medical Center, police said. The officers’ names were not released.

Police said the male suspect was dead but released no details.

A Minneapolis police squad car heading to the shooting collided with a motorcycle, killing one person on the motorcycle and injuring another, police said. The officer was not hurt. Names of the motorcyclists were not immediately released.

Police Chief Janee Harteau, who visited the wounded officers in the hospital, called it “a very tough day” for the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The situation was a tragic one, and I want to make sure that we keep them (the officers) and their families in our thoughts and prayers,” Harteau told reporters in a brief statement outside HCMC. She said the investigation was just beginning.

Harteau said later at a news conference Friday night that the female passenger on the motorcycle was in stable condition.

Police said earlier that the shootout happened when the suspect was cornered in a home he had broken into.

The officers stopped the vehicle about 3:30 p.m. and the suspect fled and broke into a house, police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington told The Associated Press. The homeowner called police, and a shootout ensued, she said.

The homeowner, Jim Bickal, told the AP he was trying to get to his house in the area when he was blocked by police searching the area. After a wait, he said he was told it was clear and he parked in his garage. Bickal says he was about to go in his back porch when he spotted broken glass in the door, and he alerted nearby officers.

“They took over and surrounded my house and went inside and we heard shots fired,” Bickal said.

Bickal said officers told him the suspect was dead. He said he was told the officers were each shot in the leg, and said he saw one of them bandaged at the scene, conscious and drinking water.