BCA agent identified in shooting after manhunt
Updated: 7:55 p.m. | Posted: 2:20 a.m.
A Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent shot at a suspect during an hours-long manhunt and chase in Bloomington early Thursday, the BCA said.
The 49-year-old suspect was taken to a hospital, after he was caught. He is believed to be involved in a death of a woman in Crookston, Minn.
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The BCA said Special Agent in Charge Scott Mueller is on standard leave. Because a BCA agent was involved, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating "to avoid conflict of interest," a BCA statement said.
Mueller heads the BCA's Metro Regional Office. He has been with the state investigative agency since 2008 and served in the White Bear Lake Police Department for several years before that.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that law enforcement officers located and arrested the suspect at approximately 3 a.m. on the 8200 block of Stevens Avenue South.
Authorities say the suspect lived with Tawnja Rene Wallace, who was found dead in her home early Wednesday. The University of North Dakota Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of her death.
According to a Bloomington police spokesperson, agents from the BCA attempted to stop someone they identified as "a person of interest" in the Crookston case around 9 p.m. Wednesday in Bloomington.
Bloomington Deputy Chief Mike Hartley said that as agents approached the person near 86th Street and Oakland Avenue, "shots were fired" and the person drove away.
The pursuit soon became a foot chase, and by around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Bloomington Police Department had posted on its Twitter feed that officers were searching for "a wanted suspect."
Police urged residents to remain indoors and call 911 "if they see anything suspicious" as the pursuit moved into the northeastern corner of the city. By 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, additional officers and K-9 units had been brought in to assist.
The search was in an area just south of Interstate 494, between the Mall of America and Interstate 35W. By 1:45 a.m. Thursday, as the search was nearing its fifth hour, Bloomington police tweeted that officers had begun searching yard to yard in the area.