St. Paul officer shoots, kills suspect on West Side

Updated at 3:05 p.m.

A St. Paul police officer Thursday morning shot and killed a man who 911 callers said had been breaking windows and threatening passersby on St. Paul's West Side.

The two officers involved in the shooting were unharmed but believed their lives were in danger, Chief Tom Smith told reporters. They are on standard administrative leave and will be identified in the coming days.

The identity of the man who was shot and killed will be released by the Ramsey County medical examiner, Smith added.

Smith said officers responded at about 6:45 a.m. to multiple emergency calls about the man's behavior near the intersection of Wabasha Street and Plato Boulevard.

"911 callers warned that the man was bloodied, breaking windows with a pipe and smashing at a school bus," Smith said. "He also went after another woman's vehicle, where he attempted to break out the rear window with a pipe."

When they arrived, officers were immediately confronted by the man who was throwing rocks, aggressively approaching the officers and ignoring orders to stop, he added.

"At one time, one of the officers retreated, the suspect raised a rock believed to be larger than a baseball and came at that officer," Smith said.

"Next, the suspect immediately and aggressively came at the other officer, who then fired multiple shots, fatally wounding the suspect."

Police said more information about the incident will be released in the next day.

Smith said he couldn't yet provide information on whether the officers had Taser guns available but emphasized that the officers believed their lives were in jeopardy.

"This wasn't just someone walking down the street throwing pebbles and rocks," he said. "You don't always have to have a firearm or a knife to hurt somebody."

Earlier in the day, witness Toby Mertz said he saw the squad car pull up to the suspect. He said an officer tried to grab the suspect, but was punched. He said the officer backed away and then drew his weapon as the suspect threw rocks at him.

"And then (he) just quit throwing and just charged directly at him. That's when the officer fired three times," Mertz said.

Gabriel Lopez, who works at nearby Joseph's Grill, said he saw a female and male police officer near the suspect before the three shots were fired. He said he moved out of the way when the gunshots rang out.

A body remained in the street at 8 a.m. near the Holiday Station at the intersection then was covered in a tent.

The incident comes on the heels of several recent shooting incidents involving St. Paul police. An alleged carjacker was shot and killed by St. Paul police in the first week of August. A 14-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet during that exchange of gunfire.

Another shootout followed the manhunt for the killer of Mendota Heights police Officer Scott Patrick in July. Suspect Brian George Fitch Sr. and a woman riding in a vehicle with him were wounded.

St. Paul Police released this 911 transcript connected to Thursday's incident that led to a police officer shooting a man on St. Paul's West Side.