Shakopee police kill person they say pointed gun at officer

A Shakopee police officer shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at the officer who was responding to a fire alarm late Friday, police said.

The investigation of the shooting was quickly transferred to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Saturday. Neither the BCA nor Shakopee police released the names of the officer or the man Saturday.

The Shakopee shooting came about nine hours after Minneapolis police fatally shot a man they say was suicidal and armed on the city's North Side.

Shakopee officers were sent to a house in the 800 block of Apgar Street around 11 p.m. Friday in response to a fire alarm, according to a statement from Shakopee police. When they approached the house, they were met by a man holding a handgun.

The man raised the gun and pointed it at the primary officer, a 12-year veteran of the Shakopee Police Department. The officer, who according to the statement was "fearing for his life," then shot the man.

Officers at the scene performed lifesaving measures on the man, according to police. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident was recorded by the officers' body-worn cameras and a handgun was recovered from the scene.

BCA spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said in an e-mail Saturday that the investigation is "in its very early stages." The names of the officers involved will be released once an initial round of interviews is done and authorities finish their work at the scene, she said.

The block where the shooting occurred — a string of single-family homes — was quiet Saturday afternoon. There was no police activity visible. A strip of yellow caution tape lay in the snow by the curb.

In the Minneapolis case, officers were called to the 3700 block of Morgan Avenue N. on a report of the suicidal man just after 2 p.m.

According to police spokesman John Elder, a man came out of the residence armed and was shot by an officer. Elder would not specify what kind of weapon the man had, but according to scanner audio, an officer reported to dispatch that "he has a knife" and "he's coming outside." Moments later, the officer put out a call of shots fired.

Scanner traffic indicated that the man suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach. Although police initially said the victim's injuries were not critical, he later died at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale.

The officers involved were wearing activated body cameras, Elder said. Both were placed on standard administrative leave as the BCA investigates.

"There is no officer that comes to work wanting to harm or kill someone during their shift," Elder said Friday night. "It's a bad situation all the way around."

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pledged to work with Chief Medaria Arradondo to find out how the fatal shooting unfolded.

"We know that the lives of everyone involved are forever changed and that one life was cut short," Frey said in a prepared statement. "Regardless of the information that comes forth, our city mourns a life lost and grieves with a family and community in pain."

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report. Miguel Otárola • 612-673-4753