Shots halt man lunging at two officers with sword and knife

Donald W. Gehl, 27, was wounded after ignoring orders to drop his weapons during a confrontation. He kept coming, police say.

By ANTHONY LONETREE, Star Tribune

Last update: March 6, 2008 - 11:57 PM

Officers responding to a call of a burglary in progress Thursday afternoon at a house on St. Paul's East Side arrived to find a front window shattered, and a ladder propped there.

And then came a strange and potentially deadly twist.

From across the street came Donald W. Gehl, 27, armed with a sword and a knife. He confronted the officers and ignored commands to drop the weapons before he was shot at least once in the right arm and twice in the legs, police spokesman Tom Walsh said.

Gehl, who reportedly has a history of mental illness, was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where he was reported in critical but stable condition late Thursday afternoon, authorities say.

"The expectation is that he's going to make it," Walsh said.

Whether Gehl had a role in the initial burglary has yet to be determined.

The shooting occurred about 1 p.m. in the 900 block of Forest Street -- a well-traveled north-south route just north of 3M's East Side complex.

According to police, the officers arrived to find two burglary victims who had fled the house on the east side of Forest. After entering the residence to secure it, the officers heard a disturbance outside, went out and were confronted by Gehl, who was armed with a knife and a "menacing-looking" sword, Walsh said.

"The man began to come at the officers," a police news release said, and after Gehl refused to drop his weapons, one of the two officers fired three shots at him.

Gehl, who was hit, then got up, the statement said, and again moved toward the officer, while still armed. The second officer then fired one shot, which struck him, too.

"Blood loss was the critical issue" in his injuries, Walsh said.

Known to police

At the scene after the shooting, Gehl's mother told police that he has been treated for schizophrenia in the past, Walsh said.

Gehl also is "known to officers on the East Side," he added.

The two officers involved in the shooting, one a 22-year veteran and the other a 12-year veteran of the department, were unaware of his mental-health issues, however, Walsh said. They now are on three-day administrative leaves, which is department policy.

According to police records, St. Paul police have gone to Gehl's address nine times in the past four years, once for a reported disturbance.

No details about that incident were available.

Walsh said that he believed that other police calls to the area may have involved Gehl, too, but he did not have specifics. Gehl's house faces Sims Avenue, but it runs along the west side of Forest Street.

At the Gehl residence, a man standing at a side door Thursday afternoon went inside when approached by a reporter. A phone message left at the house was not returned.

Anthony Lonetree • 651-298-1545