St. Paul man in custody after shooting at Oakdale officers during standoff

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read

A St. Paul man ran from a vehicle with his girlfriend and her infant grandchild inside and immediately began shooting at Oakdale police officers, the police chief said Tuesday.

At least one Oakdale officer exchanged gunfire with the 25-year-old, who barricaded himself in a house before law enforcement later took him into custody. No injuries were reported.

The incident happened just under a month after two Burnsville police officers and a firefighter/paramedic were shot and killed. They were also responding to a 911 call about a domestic dispute when a gunman barricaded himself in a home with seven children on Feb. 18.

Monday’s Oakdale case drew SWAT teams and a large law enforcement response.

“I think anytime officers are being shot at … there’s going to be a large police presence,” said Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry. “Burnsville certainly is on our minds and in our hearts” and he said that also impacts how many officers respond.

The incident began when a 911 caller reported a domestic dispute just before 10 p.m. in the 100 block of Greystone Avenue. The caller “expressed concern” the man had a gun and threatened a woman with it in the past, Oakdale Police Chief Nick Newton said in a statement.

As officers headed to the address, they found a vehicle they believed was involved and they tried to pull over the driver near 10th Street and Hadley Avenue. The driver led them on a brief pursuit before stopping at a residence in the 100 block of Greystone Avenue, police said.

“Immediately upon exiting the vehicle,” the driver began shooting at officers, Newton wrote.

The man ran into a home where he continued to fire at officers before barricading himself inside.

Police found the man’s girlfriend and her infant grandchild in the vehicle he fled from, according to Newton. They were unharmed and police got them to safety. Law enforcement secured the area and evacuated people from nearby homes.

“Resources from multiple jurisdictions responded to assist at the scene, where four Oakdale officers were unable to safely retreat due to incoming gunfire,” Newton said in the statement. “Law enforcement in armored vehicles responded to help safely extricate the officers, all of whom remain physically unharmed.”

Police tried to contact the man for hours and he surrendered to officers just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was booked into the Washington County jail on suspicion of felony assault, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence, and violation of a no-contact order.

Oakdale Mayor Kevin Zabel wrote he was grateful to Oakdale police and other law enforcement “for resolving this situation with no loss of life. … At the same time, we all know this situation could have ended much different. Violence, but especially violence against law enforcement needs to stop.”

SWAT teams from Washington County, the Ramsey County sheriff’s office and St. Paul police assisted, as did Woodbury and Cottage Grove police and other neighboring agencies.

The Washington County sheriff’s office is handling the criminal investigation and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is conducting the police use-of-force investigation.

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