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Neighborhood Rattled After Man Killed In St. Paul Officer-Involved Shooting

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A man is dead after an officer-involved shooting in St. Paul Monday afternoon, according to police.

The incident happened at 411 White Bear Avenue, which is just north of Interstate 94 in St. Paul.

Authorities received a 911 call at about 3:20 p.m. about a man with a rifle who was also wearing a bullet-proof vest. When officers arrived to the scene, they spotted the man with the gun. The man went back inside the home, and police immediately began evacuating homes in the area as a precaution.

Police contacted the suspect and negotiations began. The suspect eventually came out of the residence into a back alley and was confronted by a SWAT team when shots were fired. The suspect was killed by police at the scene. Police said it's not known how many gunshots were fired, or if the suspect fired at authorities. The first shots fired at the suspect were non-lethal before lethal force had to be used, police said.

Seven hours later, the scene was still active and police were combing the area.  Four officers were put on administrative leave after the shooting. They range from five to 16-year veterans. This is standard on a scene as serious as this one.

"It's something you'd see in an action movie I guess," Jade Decora, who was in the area when it all unfolded, said.

Decora said he watched a man wave an assault rifle from outside his home and gestured after police arrived.

"Officers encountered a very dangerous situation," Sgt. Paul Paulos with the St. Paul Police Department said. "It's unclear if he shot or he didn't shoot. Time will tell by evidence left at scene. The suspect was shot by police and I should tell you we used non-lethal on him in the first round.

It was a scene that rattled the neighbors to the core.

"I started crying, it was scary," one neighbor said.

Decora said the man had been talking loudly about defending America and wore a protective shield.

"He had a bullet proof vest on and he had it on when he was outside screaming and he still had it on until they shot him and he died," Decora said.

It was a violent scene that put a back stoop in the middle of an investigation.

Anyone who might have witnessed the incident is asked to call St. Paul Police. The names of the suspect and the officers have not been released.

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