Standoff over in Mahnomen; deputy still critical

Officers surround a mobile home
Officers surround a mobile home where a suspect remains holed up near the scene of Wednesday's shooting in Mahnomen.
MPR Photo/Than Tibbetts

A Mahnomen County sheriff's deputy was in critical condition Wednesday after being shot several times in an incident that sparked a nine-hour standoff with police and locked down an area in this northwestern Minnesota town.

The standoff ended peacefully about 4 p.m. when the second of two suspects walked out of a mobile home and surrendered to authorities. Another person had been taken into custody earlier in the day, said Dave Bjerga, assistant superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Deputy Chris Dewey
Mahnomen Sheriff's Deputy Chris Dewey
Photo Courtesy of Mahnomen County Sheriff's Department

Mahnomen County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Dewey remained in critical, but stable condition at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D., Wednesday evening. The 26-year-old had two surgeries - after being shot in the abdomen and the head.

MeritCare officials said in a statement that the head wound resulted in a severe brain injury, and it was too soon to know a prognosis. Hospital officials said doctors were able to repair a laceration to Dewey's liver.

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Sheriff Doug Krier told reporters the incident started around 4 a.m. when authorities got a call about a drunken driver leaving the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen. Deputies found the vehicle near the courthouse with no one in it.

About 6:20 a.m., the sheriff said, neighbors reported shots were fired in that general area.

"The deputies responded and checked the area but couldn't find anything," Krier said. He said that about 7:10 a.m., Dewey went to a house to interview a witness about the gunfire.

Location of shooting
This graphic shows the location of Mahnomen and the approximate location of where Deputy Chris Dewey was shot.
MPR Graphic/Steve Mullis

"At about 7:11 his backup called to find out his status and how he was doing. He did not answer his radio," Krier said.

The backup deputy arrived to find his partner lying on the driveway of the home he was going to check.

"The deputy had been shot multiple times," the sheriff said. "The suspects then ran into a residence across the street."

The standoff outside that doublewide mobile home lasted nine hours. Several law enforcement agencies descended on the scene, including tactical teams from the BCA and surrounding law enforcement agencies. The BCA also sent its Crime Scene Team and some investigators.

The Mahnomen public school, a few blocks from the shooting, was locked down as a precaution, Superintendent Walt Aanenson said. Once the standoff ended, the students were being bused home. About 600 students attend the school.

Mahnomen is about 60 miles northeast of Fargo.

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Krier said Dewey has been with the sheriff's department for four years.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)