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Pursuit, Officer-Involved Shooting Follows Homicide Near Prior Lake

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) – For the second time in less than a week, a shooting and high speed chase ended when officers shot a man suspected in an early morning murder.

In a development of stately homes, not far from Mystic Lake casino, homicide investigators were still on the scene Wednesday afternoon.

It happened inside a home on the 2100 block of Sioux Trail in Prior Lake. That's where a 9-1-1 caller reported a male had been shot multiple times around 2:11 a.m. Wednesday morning. As police arrived on the scene, a suspect vehicle was spotted speeding away.

"Another officer followed the vehicle as it left the scene and attempted to stop that vehicle," Prior Lake Police Chief Mark Elliott said. "The vehicle did not stop and a police pursuit ensued."

Multiple agencies joined in the chase, and eventually disabled the car with stop sticks along the Bren Road exit ramp off U.S Highway 169 in Edina.

Prior Lake Officer-Involved Shooting
(credit: CBS)

"There were three suspects that fled the vehicle at the end of the pursuit," Elliott said.

Police quickly captured two people, but the third suspect continued to run from the scene. When that person turned and fired his gun at two Eden Prairie officers, they fired back. He was wounded and given first aid by paramedics before being transported to a local hospital.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the man's condition remains unclear.

"Law enforcement officers start their day not knowing what that shift is going to bring," Eden Prairie Police Chief James DeMann said. "I can't tell you how proud I am of my officers."

Closures near the scene of the pursuit snarled traffic much of the morning as investigators searched for bullet casings and other evidence in the snow.

As for what led to the initial killing of 42-year-old James Herron, police are saying little.

"We do believe there was a motive behind it, and that this person was targeted by the suspects," Chief Elliott said.

Herron is a grandson of the late Mdewakanton community founder, Norman Crooks. His brother explained that Herron was a kind-hearted soul and would often let people into his home to help them out. He believes he let his guard down and befriended the wrong people.

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