Police shoot, kill armed man outside north Minneapolis home

Police said they fatally shot a man outside a north Minneapolis home early Sunday after he fired shots inside that sent residents fleeing into the street.

Police spokesman John Elder said the preliminary investigation indicates that the man later fired at officers called to the scene.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has taken over the investigation, and police said the officers' body cameras were on during the standoff and shooting in the Jordan neighborhood.

As she walked by the crime scene, neighbor Peg Baier called the incident heartbreaking.

"Everybody's a little more challenged in the winter, in the holidays. I'm just not sure what transpired," she said. "But you hate for it to end that way."

Few details were available Sunday, but police said they were called to a domestic disturbance involving a weapon.

It's the latest in a string of domestic violence cases that have turned deadly in the city. A 27-year-old woman was killed by her ex-boyfriend on Thanksgiving and a man shot and killed his ex-wife and two sons on Dec. 1.

The city's only other officer-involved shooting this year also took place in the Jordan neighborhood, in August, according to an ongoing Star Tribune database. In that case, officers fatally shot a 32-year-old man after he shot and wounded his girlfriend.

The neighborhood was sealed off again Sunday morning and into the evening as authorities pored over evidence near the home on the 3100 block of N. Thomas Avenue.

A source familiar with the investigation said police had visited the home last week for an unspecified reason.

Officers were called to the home just after 3 a.m. Sunday, Elder said. A police news release described the incident as an "armed confrontation."

While en route, officers learned that shots had been fired inside the home.

After police arrived, they engaged in a brief standoff with the suspect, who initially refused to leave the residence, Elder said.

"Officers had spoken with him on the phone," he said, adding that the man eventually agreed to come outside.

What happened next is not clear, but Elder said, "Preliminary investigation says the suspect fired a round at officers."

The man, whose identity hasn't been released, was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital in critical condition and later died, Elder said.

Officers' body-worn cameras were on and activated, the Police Department said in a news release.

BCA spokesman Bruce Gordon said the investigation is in its early stages and the agency would be releasing names of officers who fired their weapons once initial interviews are complete.

"This is an active and ongoing investigation," he said in a statement, adding that the BCA cannot release details about active investigations.

No officers were injured, but police did not say how many officers fired their weapons or how many had been placed on administrative leave in keeping with department policy in officer-involved shootings.

The source said six to eight officers were placed on leave.

According to emergency dispatch audio, a 911 caller said her father fired a shot inside the home but no one was hit. Police later were alerted to "at least a couple long guns in the house," according to the audio.

A dispatcher also informed officers that the caller's 70-year-old grandmother was the only other person left in the home.

Officers were able to talk to other family members at the scene and brought a translator to the home because the man was Hmong and not fluent in English.

The frenzy of law enforcement officers in the neighborhood was unusual in what's typically a quiet area, said neighbor Scott Behr.

Traffic detoured around barricades, and residents living in cordoned-off blocks were escorted to their homes by police posted at each surrounding intersection.

"It's too bad, especially around the holidays," Behr said.

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.