AMBOY, MINN. - A shocked silence hung over this southern Minnesota town on Christmas Eve as residents wrestled with news of a shootout that left an Amboy man dead and a Mankato police officer seriously wounded.

Jeffrey Skjervold, 41, shot himself to death early Sunday after police tear-gassed his home about a mile west of Amboy, authorities said at a brief Sunday news conference.

Skjervold's apparent suicide came after a 7½-hour standoff that began as a domestic dispute with his wife and ended with more than 50 state and area police officers on the scene.

Earlier, officials said, Skjervold shot two police officers in the head, one of whom was probably saved by his helmet. Chris Nelson, 44, of the St. Peter Police Department, was resting at home Sunday with his family, authorities said.

The other officer, Robert Sadusky, 37, of the Mankato Police Department, was in serious condition after surgery at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester Sunday. His condition was upgraded to fair on Monday morning, a hospital spokesman said.

Sadusky was conscious Sunday afternoon and talking with his family, said a Mankato police spokesman.

Sadusky, a 7½-year veteran of the force, is married and has two sons, ages 12 and 14.

This is the first time a Mankato police officer has been shot in the city's recorded history, said Lt. Mark Peterson, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

"By a matter of inches, this outcome could have been markedly more tragic," Peterson said. "People want to know what heroes are like. These guys are heroes. They're the kind that you see every day."

As Skjervold held off police, he took phone calls from friends and family and spoke to a reporter from the Mankato Free Press. In that newspaper's report, Skjervold claimed in a phone conversation that a Blue Earth County sheriff's deputy had entered his house about 4 p.m. Saturday while he was quarreling with his wife, Cindy.

Skjervold reached for a rifle, not realizing that the stranger in his home was a deputy, the newspaper said. A struggle ensued and police used a Taser shocking device on him. Skjervold and the deputies exchanged gunfire, according to his version of the story, and Skjervold was shot in the stomach before the deputies retreated. Skjervold's wife escaped the house unharmed.

The officers' account

At the news conference Sunday, officers gave a different account. According to Peterson of the Department of Public Safety, two Blue Earth sheriff's deputies approached Skjervold's house and realized he was armed. They retreated without engaging him, Peterson said, and called for backup from a regional tactical-response team composed of members from area police agencies.

Peterson confirmed that tactical-response officers did use a Taser on Skjervold "to try to bring a peaceful resolution" to the incident. "That didn't work," Peterson said.

When the response team went in, Peterson said, Skjervold opened fire, shooting Nelson and Sadusky. The response team retreated and brought in a larger backup team, including members of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota State Patrol.

Police negotiators spent hours trying to get Skjervold to surrender. Finally, early Sunday morning, they shot tear gas into his house. Moments later, Peterson said, police heard a single gunshot. They entered the house and found Skjervold dead.

Peterson declined to release further details.

Skjervold's sister, Kirs-ten Skjervold of Fridley, told KSTP-TV that he had recently lost his job at a grain elevator. In 2001, Skjervold was arrested in nearby Winnebago on a charge of fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, according to Winnebago police records.