Domestic violence suspect dead in Mounds View after confrontation with cops
Updated 7:45 p.m.
Authorities say a sheriff’s deputy drove his car into and wounded a man after the man allegedly fired twice at law enforcement vehicles on a suburban street in Mounds View Wednesday morning. A statement from the Mounds View Police Department Wednesday evening says the man died of his injuries.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said that one of its squads was responding a report of a felony domestic assault involving gunfire and a female victim at the AmericInn by Wyndham nearby. The sheriff’s office said authorities made sure the victim was safe and got the suspect's description.
A deputy spotted the suspect, who is white, a short distance away, and a statement from the sheriff’s office said the man opened fire and hit the squad as it approached.
A deputy used his vehicle to strike the man, throwing him through a wooden fence and into Lexi Imholte’s yard.
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.
Imholte said she heard two shots and looked out her window to see police with a bloodied man on the ground in her yard. She didn’t see how he got there.
“All I really saw was him on the ground, and once they cut his clothes off and got a neck brace on him, he was moving a bit, but not trying to fight or anything, but just receive that medical help.”
He was taken to HCMC, where Mound View police said “He later succumbed to his injuries.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating.
Aldo Olivas works at a liquor store on County Road H2 near Mounds View Boulevard and said it had been a quiet morning.
“I was just watching TV, and then I just heard some gunshots. Then I thought it was the TV itself, but then I heard like five minutes or less than that I think, police just coming one after another,” Olivas said.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's office released photos showing a bullet hole just above the driver's side windshield of the Mounds View squad. Another round pierced the hood of the sheriff's squad, also on the driver's side, the sheriff’s office said. Officers said the gunshots narrowly missed them.
The sheriff's office said there is video of the incident but that it has not yet been released.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.