Pursuit in Morrison Co. leads to crash, suspect dies after self-inflicted gunshot wound to head

CUSHING, Minn. (FOX 9) - UPDATE: The BCA says the suspect in this case died Monday. 

A driver led law enforcement on a pursuit, crashed and was found in the front seat of the car with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday night in Morrison County, Minn.

According to a release from the BCA, around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Todd County Sheriff’s deputies tried to conduct a traffic stop near Browerville, Minn. related to an “ongoing investigation of suspected criminal activity.”

The driver did not stop and led police on a pursuit into Morrison County which reached speeds of 105 miles per hour.

The driver shot at law enforcement during the pursuit, investigators say, but nobody was injured.

Eventually, the driver lost control of the vehicle on Hwy. 10. The car left the road and hit a tree in the west ditch near County Road 16 in Cushing, Minn.

Law enforcement told the driver to exit the vehicle, which he did not. SWAT officers arrived and, at one point, officers fired bean bag rounds to knock out the vehicle’s back window. Then, they fired chemical munitions into the vehicle.

When officers approached, they found the driver with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was transported by helicopter to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale where he was treated for his head wound. He died Monday. 

The officers were not wearing body cameras and the BCA will determine whether squad cameras captured the shooting during the pursuit or during the incident.

The BCA did recover a handgun from inside the vehicle.

The investigation into this incident is being lead by the Minnesota BCA because of the officers’ use of force.

The BCA identified one of the officers who used force as 13-year Little Falls Police veteran Joshua Burgardt. The other was a Morrison County Sheriff’s Office employee who could not be identified under a state statute that protects the identities of undercover officers.