Man who held hostage believed to be from Missouri
Police in a Twin Cities suburb say they don't know why a man who held a young boy hostage before killing himself was in Minnesota or the community.
Brooklyn Park Deputy Chief Mark Bruley says police believe the man, who has not been identified, came to the state from Missouri with an accomplice. Bruley said the two have been traced back to a stolen vehicle case and recent police pursuit in Missouri.
Citizens reported seeing a suspicious man walking around their neighborhood in Brooklyn Park Thursday afternoon.
A homeowner called police to say a man had broken into his home and then fled. When officers arrived to investigate, two children came out of a nearby house and told them a man was in their home and their 7-year-old brother was still inside.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Officers entered the home after backup arrived at the scene.
"When they got upstairs, they found the suspect had barricaded the bedroom doors with a bed and dressers and then had told the officers that, essentially, he had the child and he was armed and he was not going to surrender,” Bruley said. “As a parent, this is the worst-case scenario.”
SWAT personnel and a crisis negotiator team were called in. Eventually they succeeded in securing the child's release. The boy, unharmed, was returned to his family.
Police tweeted about 10:30 p.m. that the standoff had ended and the suspect was dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.