Sheriff: Officer-Involved Shooting Shuts Down I-694 In North Metro
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A murder overnight at a Maple Grove rest stop leads to a high speed chase and the suspect being shot by officers on Interstate 694 just minutes later near Vadnais Heights.
The investigation lead to all eastbound lanes of I-694 being shut down for eight hours causing massive traffic back-ups as tens of thousands tried to find alternate routes Maple Grove.
The only visible sign of what happened at the rest stop is a light pole that clearly has been hit. Investigators are trying to piece together what happened and are not releasing a lot of details.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office says the incident started with a shooting at 1 a.m. at a rest stop in the area of Interstate 94 and Weaver Lake Road in Maple Grove. When officers arrived, they found a man dead.
The suspect in the shooting was later spotted by officers driving in the area of the I-94 and I-694 split.
Witnesses said the suspect sped away onto eastbound I-94 in a small red SUV with Oregon plates.
"Officers with multiple agencies spotted the vehicle near the I-94/694 split in Brooklyn Center. The SUV was headed eastbound on I-694. Officers tried to stop the vehicle at this time. The vehicle failed to stop and a vehicle pursuit ensued," Officer Rich Stanek said.
According to scanner reports the chase topped 100 miles an hour.
At I-694 in Shoreview the SUV lost control and crashed into the median.
"Following the crash, he got out of the vehicle armed with a weapon. The officers fired their weapons, ultimately killing the suspect. A deputy from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department and an officer Brooklyn Center police department both fired their weapons," Stanek said.
As officers investigated all lanes of eastbound I-694 were closed until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, leading to massive traffic tie-ups.
In daylight at the rest stop you could see tire tracks in the grass and the light pole that had been hit, apparent signs of an out of control car.
At a news conference investigators would not answer specific questions about what had happened, including any possible relationship between the victim and the suspect.
"We have a lot more questions than we have answers at this point, but that is what happens in a complex investigation like this," Stanek said.
The Maple Grove Police Department is investigating the shooting at the rest stop as a homicide. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Investigators are also asking anyone with any information to please come forward and contact them.
Among the key items authorities are not releasing at this point are the names of the victim who shot at the rest stop and the name of the murder suspect who was shot on I-694.
The names of the officers involved in the shooting will be released later this week.
