A Fargo police officer shot and wounded a suspected car thief early Monday in a Fargo parking lot just as the man raised what turned out to be a pellet gun in a threatening manner, authorities said.
The 31-year-old man, whose identity was being withheld, was taken to Essentia Health for surgery, said Police Chief Dave Todd, who declined to reveal the seriousness of the man's wounds.
The shooting occurred about 3:15 a.m. near the Pizza Hut on 13th Avenue S., Todd said.
The suspect's weapon was a "BB or pellet gun, a replica" of a lethal weapon and it had a laser sight, Todd said in a media briefing about four hours after the shooting. Todd then released a photograph of a model of that weapon, saying he wanted the news media to see what the officer was observing.
Todd added that law enforcement arrested a woman who was in the car with the man, a 34-year-old from nearby Thompson.
In a brief statement, Todd outlined the circumstances leading up to and including the shooting, but he declined to field questions:
Law enforcement in Traill and Cass counties were alerted to be on the watch for a car stolen out of Bottineau on Friday. Early Monday, deputies spotted the vehicle and pursued it, but "at some point, disengaged," Todd said.
Officers from Fargo and West Fargo spotted the car traveling the wrong way on 13th. A witness called 911 and reported seeing the car hit a large rock in a Wal-Mart parking lot and then head east on 13th in the westbound lanes.
