5 officers shot near Princeton, Minn.
Law enforcement and helicopters are seen near where officers say has been a "critical incident" on Thursday near Princeton, Minn.
Anna Haecherl | MPR News
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Five law enforcement officers have been shot in central Minnesota. Law enforcement officials confirmed to MPR News Thursday morning that a suspect is in custody.
MPR News digital editor Anna Haecherl gave host Cathy Wurzer an update, live from the scene.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Our top story is an unfolding one. Five law enforcement officers have been shot in Central Minnesota, and in just the last 10 minutes, law enforcement officials confirmed to MPR News that a suspect is in custody. There's heavy police presence near Princeton, Minnesota. It's been that way all morning long. MPR News Digital editor Anna Haecherl is at the scene. She is with us live. Anna, for folks not familiar with where you are, with that part of the region, where are you exactly?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure, Cathy. I am in Glendorado Township right now. That's just west of Princeton. I'm about 30 minutes from St. Cloud to the east, and this is in the very southeast corner of Benton County.
CATHY WURZER: What was the scene like when you arrived?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure, well, I showed up here about two hours ago. There were a lot of law enforcement vehicles. I saw a lot on the road heading this way too from St. Cloud. Dozens were placed up at this Glendorado Lutheran Church, near where I am at right now, which was looking kind of like a staging area. They had armored vehicles, cars from agencies that were going back and forth to what appeared to be the scene just south of here.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about what happened at the scene?
ANNA HAECHERL: So right now, we don't know a whole lot. We know that five officers were shot, but why they were there this morning or what kind of led up to this we haven't been told yet.
CATHY WURZER: OK, what are you seeing right now?
ANNA HAECHERL: So a lot of the law enforcement vehicles have left this kind of staging area at this church. There's a few hanging outs. I know people are headed to Foley, to the sheriff's office there, for a press conference later this afternoon. But they're letting vehicles through the area again, and it looks much more stable, much more calm than it did two hours ago.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about the suspect?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure. We know that there is a suspect in custody. We don't know who that is. We don't know why officers were at their possible residence. And we also don't know their situation or kind of what led up to them getting put into custody either yet at this point.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so a lot of unanswered questions right now. But what about the law enforcement officers who were shot?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure. We know five were shot. It's sounding, too, like all of those who were shot-- their injuries are non-life-threatening. Three were taken to North Memorial in the city, and also two were taken to a hospital in St. Cloud.
CATHY WURZER: Gosh, thinking back on this, this has been a pretty dangerous year for law enforcement-- rural law enforcement officers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Several incidents already, right?
ANNA HAECHERL: Yeah, no, it has been a tough year. At least 14 law enforcement officers have been shot, four of them fatally, in rural Minnesota and western Wisconsin so far this year. That's included McLeod County, two of the Wisconsin police officers from Cameron and Chetek who were killed. We also had incidents in Granite Falls, Pope County, and in St. Croix too.
CATHY WURZER: So are you going to be covering this news conference soon?
ANNA HAECHERL: Actually, we'll have reporter Kirsti Marohn and I believe photographer Tim Evans are headed to Foley. I'm kind of watching the scene here to see if anything else develops, but we're hoping to have some more information soon and later this afternoon.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Anna, thank you.
ANNA HAECHERL: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Anna Haecherl is our digital editor. Of course, we have, as you heard, several reporters covering this story. We'll have the latest right here on air and, of course, on our website, mprnews.org.
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure, Cathy. I am in Glendorado Township right now. That's just west of Princeton. I'm about 30 minutes from St. Cloud to the east, and this is in the very southeast corner of Benton County.
CATHY WURZER: What was the scene like when you arrived?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure, well, I showed up here about two hours ago. There were a lot of law enforcement vehicles. I saw a lot on the road heading this way too from St. Cloud. Dozens were placed up at this Glendorado Lutheran Church, near where I am at right now, which was looking kind of like a staging area. They had armored vehicles, cars from agencies that were going back and forth to what appeared to be the scene just south of here.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about what happened at the scene?
ANNA HAECHERL: So right now, we don't know a whole lot. We know that five officers were shot, but why they were there this morning or what kind of led up to this we haven't been told yet.
CATHY WURZER: OK, what are you seeing right now?
ANNA HAECHERL: So a lot of the law enforcement vehicles have left this kind of staging area at this church. There's a few hanging outs. I know people are headed to Foley, to the sheriff's office there, for a press conference later this afternoon. But they're letting vehicles through the area again, and it looks much more stable, much more calm than it did two hours ago.
CATHY WURZER: What do we know about the suspect?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure. We know that there is a suspect in custody. We don't know who that is. We don't know why officers were at their possible residence. And we also don't know their situation or kind of what led up to them getting put into custody either yet at this point.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so a lot of unanswered questions right now. But what about the law enforcement officers who were shot?
ANNA HAECHERL: Sure. We know five were shot. It's sounding, too, like all of those who were shot-- their injuries are non-life-threatening. Three were taken to North Memorial in the city, and also two were taken to a hospital in St. Cloud.
CATHY WURZER: Gosh, thinking back on this, this has been a pretty dangerous year for law enforcement-- rural law enforcement officers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Several incidents already, right?
ANNA HAECHERL: Yeah, no, it has been a tough year. At least 14 law enforcement officers have been shot, four of them fatally, in rural Minnesota and western Wisconsin so far this year. That's included McLeod County, two of the Wisconsin police officers from Cameron and Chetek who were killed. We also had incidents in Granite Falls, Pope County, and in St. Croix too.
CATHY WURZER: So are you going to be covering this news conference soon?
ANNA HAECHERL: Actually, we'll have reporter Kirsti Marohn and I believe photographer Tim Evans are headed to Foley. I'm kind of watching the scene here to see if anything else develops, but we're hoping to have some more information soon and later this afternoon.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Anna, thank you.
ANNA HAECHERL: Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Anna Haecherl is our digital editor. Of course, we have, as you heard, several reporters covering this story. We'll have the latest right here on air and, of course, on our website, mprnews.org.
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