BCA: Carjacking suspect pursued by deputies near Duluth died by suicide
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Updated: Jan. 31, 6 a.m.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says a carjacking suspect being pursued by St. Louis County sheriff’s deputies on Friday night took his own life.
The BCA released an update Saturday evening that said a deputy fired their weapon in the encounter, but an autopsy found that 34-year-old Scott Michael Jordon of Duluth died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was not struck by gunfire from the deputy.
The sheriff’s office had earlier characterized the incident as a “deadly force encounter.”
Authorities said it started just before 6 p.m. Friday when a woman and her 16-year-old son were carjacked at gunpoint outside a Super One grocery store at Pike Lake, along U.S. Highway 53 northwest of Duluth.
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After traveling about seven miles, the two victims were able to escape from the stolen vehicle in the parking lot of Saginaw Union Station, at the corner of U.S. Highway 2 and State Highway 194.
The victims called for help while the male suspect fled on foot into a wooded area.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies and a K-9 unit tracked the suspect into the wooded area before the gunfire.
Deputies and the two victims were not physically injured, the sheriff's office said. The BCA said it is continuing to investigate.
The incident comes less than two months after St. Louis County deputies fatally shot 19-year-old Estavon Dominic Elioff in Mountain Iron, after he allegedly fled from authorities investigating a report of shoplifting.
The BCA handled that investigation. The Mesabi Tribune said the BCA reported that the deputies involved in the Dec. 5 shooting were not wearing body cameras, and there were no other witnesses. The Tribune reported earlier this month that the BCA had completed its investigation into the incident, and turned over its findings to the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office for review.
Correction (Jan. 31, 2020): An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the status of the BCA’s findings on the Dec. 5 shooting in Mountain Iron. They’ve been turned over to the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office for review.