SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. - Two officers were injured during an encounter with a suspect in South St. Paul Thursday afternoon.
The situation developed around 1 p.m. at an address on the 500 block of 12th Avenue North. Police say shots were fired and two officers sustained non-life threatening injuries. One officer was hit in the shoulder and the other was hit near his leg.
Police say the initial call that came in was for a missing persons report.
"The person the officer was speaking with sounded distraught and ended the call abruptly," said South St. Paul Police Chief William Messerich.
Officers responded to the scene, began gathering information and an altercation ensued. Messerich said the suspect grabbed a shotgun and began firing, striking two officers. The officers did return gunfire, but no one was hit.
The suspect eventually dropped the gun and was placed in custody.
South St. Paul Police say the officer shot in the shoulder was an 11-year veteran. He is currently at the hospital receiving treatment. The other officer, a six-year veteran, was not transported to the hospital.
"We're thankful that our officers are alive," said Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.
Leslie said the home where the shooting occurred is considered group residential housing that offers support services for those with mental illnesses, addiction and brain injuries. They are still working to get background information on the individual suspect.
He said the investigation is ongoing, witnesses are being interviewed and a motive is still being determined.
At this time, authorities say there is no threat to the community. South St. Paul Police say the incident is contained. The officers will be placed on standard administrative leave.
Police say the suspect was not injured in the incident. Images from the scene show nearly a dozen shell casings laying in the street with evidence markers by them.
All available squads in South St. Paul and a number from the Dakota County Sheriff's Office scrambled to the scene.
One neighbor, Barbarah Christophersen, said she thought the noise she heard was fireworks, due to the amount of shots fired.
"I heard a couple of shots, then I heard a couple of more shots, then I heard three or four more shots," she said. "I don't know how many shots that was, I couldn't tell ya."
Another neighbor said they heard a man with a shotgun walked out of his apartment building and started randomly firing at homes in the area.