Police chase ends after man shoots himself outside Cannon Falls Hospital: Sheriff's Office
(FOX 9)
CANNON FALLS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A police pursuit that spanned two counties ended with the suspect turning his weapon on himself outside the Cannon Falls Hospital on Sunday evening.
The Dodge County Sheriff's Office says that around 7:39 p.m., deputies responded to West Concord to assist officers who had been rammed by a suspect's vehicle after an attempted traffic stop.
Deputies say a West Concord police officer was parked on Highway 56 when a vehicle came up behind his squad and "swerved towards him just missing hitting the side of his squad car."
The officer started following the vehicle and tried to pull the driver over. Deputies say the vehicle stopped in the roadway briefly, but then the driver switched into reverse and rammed the squad. The West Concord officer was transported to the Owatonna hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
This sparked a chase that stretched into Goodhue County until deputies were able to deploy stop sticks twice to disable the vehicle.
Cannon Falls Police Chief Jeff McCormick said the wanted driver eventually pulled into a parking space outside the Cannon Falls Hospital and died by suicide.
"There really aren't a lot of details so far as to what happened," said Chief McCormick. "But it's unfortunate that the gentleman ended up taking his own life."
Chief McCormick says no law enforcement officers fired shots during the incident.
Due to the situation, the hospital was placed on lockdown for a brief period of time. After the death, Cannon Falls police said the hospital remained open but had to divert patients to the far side of the building during the investigation.
The Minnesota BCA has been called in and will review the incident because of the chase.