At 3:24 am this morning, a Richfield resident in the 7500 block of Morgan Ave So. called 911 to report a person breaking into cars in the area. Responding Richfield police officers located the suspect and a foot chase ensued.
According to a press release by the Richfield Police Department, during the foot chase the suspect exchanged gunfire with a police officer. The officer was hit in the hand, and the suspect was shot and died at the scene – a residential neighborhood just north of the Best Buy headquarters near 494 and Penn Ave.
The officer was transported to HCMC for treatment of a non-life threatening, yet still serious injury. Such an injury could threaten the officer’s career depending on the extent of the damage to the hand and shouldn’t be glossed over as an insignificant wound.
Identity of the deceased suspect in pending.
Per policy, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Force Investigation Unit was called to complete the follow up investigation.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty released a statement saying her office was in touch with the BCA and would evaluate the incident when the investigation is complete.
Moriarty also offered flatly that she was “grateful the injured officer is being treated and is expected to be released.” She then went on to seemingly offer more compassion and concern to the deceased gunman’s family than to the officer, his family, or the law enforcement community, saying, “We also want to send our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased individual. This is a tragic and traumatic situation for all involved.”
The incident reflects a lot about where we are in terms of public safety in the metro area. Our justice system routinely downplays and dismisses property and drug crimes as insignificant. And we have seen the results – with rampant car thefts and break-ins being carried out by offenders who understandably have no fear of the consequences our feeble justice system will mete out – offenders who are often rotten to the core and represent a clear threat to our collective wellbeing.
Imagine if the 911 caller had decided to confront the “car prowler.” We’d likely be tallying yet another murder. That might have been the case a few miles north had the call come into the understaffed Minneapolis Police Department. Staffing issues there have made it unlikely an officer would have been available to respond in a timely manner – and there are no violence interuptors or civilian commuity safety ambassadors working at 3 am.
Thankfully, Richfield PD was able to respond, and thankfully their response came out on top in this instance.