Cop shoots fleeing suspect after wild Anoka County chase
Two people were wounded following an incident in Anoka County that ended after a police chase that reached speeds up to 130 mph Thursday afternoon.
Authorities were initially called to an East Bethel convenience store where they found a victim "bleeding profusely" from a gunshot wound, said Anoka County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Paul Sommer. The victim described the attacker as driving a dark Audi convertible.
Once spotted on the road, the Audi driver ignited a harrowing chase that Sommer said became increasingly dangerous as it moved into more populated parts of Anoka County.
"The suspect's behavior became more and more dangerous" as he swerved at squad cars and at officers attempting to deploy stop sticks, he said.
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The chase ended when a Coon Rapids police officer disabled the speeding car and the suspect was shot and wounded by a Coon Rapids officer following a foot chase in an Anoka neighborhood along U.S. Highway 10, just off the 7th Avenue exit, he said.
Officers fired while the suspect was attempting to escape and they believed he had a gun in his hand, Sommer said, adding the suspect was "talkative but not cooperative" and is "most likely going to survive."
The victim at the convenience store is also expected to survive, he noted.
No gun has been recovered, Sommer said. Police are still processing a large crime scene in Anoka, another in East Bethel as well as incidents along the way. Westbound U.S. Highway 10 in Anoka was shut down at 7th Avenue.
Heather Hunt, general manager at Broncos Slow Roasted Sandwiches, a sandwich shop across the street from the scene of the police confrontation, described a chaotic scene.
"I went outside and everybody started running. The cops started running ... and all of the sudden I just heard 'pop,' just one single pop," she said. "Then everybody started running with their automatic weapons out ... then the ambulance came here."
The suspect, she added, "was moving around and he was screaming in agony."
Sommer said authorities do not know what sparked the initial shooting.
The officer-involved shooting will be investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.