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One police officer dies, another is seriously injured in shooting in south Minneapolis

According to sources, a 28-year-old Minneapolis police officer has died and another is in critical condition after an exchange of gunfire with a suspect in south Minneapolis on Thursday evening.

Four other people are said to have been hit by gunfire in the chaotic scene. Investigators cordoned off the neighborhood around a residential building in the 2200 block of Blaisdell Av. S. in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Shortly before 6 p.m., Minneapolis police issued an alert asking residents to avoid the area around 22nd Street and Blaisdell due to an ongoing incident.

“Praying for all first responders working on the ground to keep the community safe,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a tweet, adding that the state “stands ready to provide all necessary resources.” Walz said State Patrol officers would assist Minneapolis police.

When they heard that officers were out, dozens of uniformed and plainclothes police rushed to the HCMC in downtown Minneapolis, where they cried and consoled each other in a medical ward. Among them were Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt. Police Chief Brian O’Hara was out of town for a conference but was reportedly on his way back to Minneapolis.

There were still patrol cars parked in front of the hospital entrance on 7th Street and the driveway was blocked off with yellow tape.

At the scene, about 40 people gathered at the intersection of Blaisdell Avenue and 22nd Street as numerous police cars from multiple agencies arrived. Police yelled at observers to back up the block and cordoned off the area so only buses could pass through.

Several residents of nearby apartments were waiting for word that they could go back inside. Reuben Molina said he was in his apartment when he heard four or five gunshots coming from an apartment on the floor below. He and his girlfriend heard a woman tell a 911 dispatcher that two people had been shot in the head, including her boyfriend.

Molina saw two men walk out the back door of the complex and split up in the alley to go in opposite directions. They looked, he said, like they were trying to “appear casual.”

Molina went outside to get officers to investigate the shooting in the apartment when he heard more gunshots nearby, he said.

“I could hear the bullets ricocheting and ricocheting as I tried to get someone to come in and check on the people who were shot,” he said. He saw a wounded person being carried away.

Commuters and residents were blocked in their vehicles while police with assault rifles ordered them to get out and keep their doors locked. One lawyer told the Star Tribune on his way home from work that he had “never experienced such a violent reaction from the police.”

“I thought it was fireworks at first,” said a man who was walking his dog in his apartment building shortly before the shooting began. The man, who did not want to give his full name, said he had only recently moved there and did not know when he would be able to return home.

Please check back with startribune.com as more details on this breaking story will become available.

Editor Paul Walsh contributed to this story.