A carjacking suspect was shot Friday by the off-duty Crystal police officer whose car he was attempting to steal, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's account says that the suspect confronted the officer about 6 a.m. Friday outside a Holiday Station Store on the 7100 block of 42nd Avenue N. in New Hope. It also said "there is evidence" that a gun was fired. The suspect drove away in the officer's personal vehicle.

Soon afterward, Minneapolis police found the same vehicle; they arrested a man who had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis for treatment, and remains in custody.

Neither the officer nor the suspect has been named.

The incident is being treated as an officer-involved shooting, the sheriff's office reported.

Workers at the store referred questions to the Sheriff's Office. A woman at a cafe across the street said she was at work Friday morning, but didn't see or hear anything.

The Sheriff's Office also is investigating whether the man who was arrested was involved in two earlier incidents, an assault on the 4900 block of Flag Avenue N., in New Hope, and an assault on a SuperAmerica store worker at 36th Av. N. and Winnetka Avenue N., in Crystal. Both of those locations are within about 2 miles of the Holiday store.

The police officer is on paid administrative leave while the Sheriff's Office investigates the incident.

MARIA ELENA BACA