A man was jailed Saturday night after taking employees of a Burnsville gas station hostage during a standoff with police.
The suspect surrendered after he entered the Holiday gas station at Nicollet Avenue and Hwy. 13 at about 6 p.m. According to scanner reports, he entered the store with a sawed-off shotgun and fired into the ceiling before taking the hostages. According to 911 calls, he threatened to kill them if officers arrived.
Later, he told a dispatcher he wanted to speak with a negotiator, adding that he "does not want to hurt anybody but does not want officers to come to the door."
SWAT teams surrounded the store and shut down Hwy. 13 as the gunman placed the hostages in the store's cooler.
After a negotiation, the first hostage was released. The man then surrendered with the second hostage, who was his girlfriend, according to scanner reports. No one was injured in the incident.
A Dakota County dispatcher said Burnsville police would release more information later.
ABBY SIMONS
