St. Paul police officer shot, suspect dead

A St. Paul police officer has been hospitalized and a suspect is dead after an apparent exchange of gunfire on the East Side last night.

Police said they were called to a theft report on the 1100 block of Flandrau Street last night. About a half-hour later, police spotted a man matching the description of the suspect in the parking lot behind a charter school on Payne Avenue.

In a statement released this morning, police said the officers drove a marked squad car into the parking lot where they discovered the man was armed. He opened fire, wounding one of the officers inside. The police returned fire and killed the man.

Police say the officer is in stable condition at Regions Hospital, where he underwent surgery overnight.

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Authorities aren't identifying the officer or the man killed in the incident.

It was the second fatal shooting of the day by St. Paul police. Officers shot and killed a motorist who they say drove toward them during an attempted stop in a drug case that started in Minneapolis.

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