2 hurt, gunman dies by suicide after grocery store shootout with St. Paul officers, police say

By Nick Lentz, Caroline Cummings

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    St. Paul, Minnesota (WCCO) — Two people are injured and a suspect is dead after a shooting in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday afternoon. It involved at least one officer firing a weapon, according to police.

Officers responded to a house on the 1500 block of Jessamine Lane around 11:40 a.m. in St. Paul for a report of shots fired in the residence. According to police, a man left the home with a young child.

Officials later learned the man and child were “possibly” at the Aldi grocery store on the 1100 block of Clarence Street near Lake Phalen. Officers located both people and attempted to talk to the man, who then “shoved” them and ran, police said.

The man ran to the front of the store, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officers, according to officials. The officers then “exchanged gunfire with the man” inside the store. Police then recovered the child, who was not injured.

One officer chased the man from Aldi toward the Cub Foods, which is also on the 1100 block of Clarence Street. Police say an officer fired at the man as he ran toward the Cub. Police say two women were shot when the man passed by Destiny Café 2. It’s unknown who shot the women. The women were taken to the hospital. They are expected to survive.

The man entered the store, at which time multiple officers and members of the police department’s SWAT team responded. Officials say officers eventually located the man and began negotiating with him.

He then “suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” police said in a written news release. He died at the scene.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating what it’s calling a “use-of-force” incident. No officers were injured.

“This is one of the most terrifying days I can remember,” St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said at a news conference Friday evening.

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said it’s “a miracle” that more people weren’t harmed.

“It is sad we live in a world right now where active shooters and violence can happen at this level, but our community responded in a heroic fashion themselves,” Henry said.

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