A shooting suspect fleeing police crashed and his stolen vehicle caught fire in Golden Valley during the Thursday morning commute, forcing authorities to close the southbound lanes of Hwy. 100 for a short time.
Police arrested a 19-year-old man who was not hurt in the incident, which happened about 6:30 a.m. near Duluth Street.
Law enforcement used a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle in the far left lane where it made contact with a median wall and caught fire after coming to rest. The suspect was taken to the Brooklyn Park Police Department and booked on "multiple felony offenses," a statement from Brooklyn Park police said.
Traffic came to a standstill and was backed up for nearly an hour as authorities from multiple agencies descended on the scene, Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic management cameras showed.
Events began about 5:50 a.m. when Brooklyn Park police received 911 calls about shots fired in the 1500 block of 89th Avenue N. and a suspect vehicle speeding away. Officers found one house had been hit, police said.
A short time later, officers got a call about a suspicious vehicle in the 8400 block of Riverview Lane. The vehicle matched the description of the one involved in the earlier incident, police said. The suspect allegedly fired shots on Riverview, hitting another vehicle, police said.
Officers attempted to stop the driver on Riverview, but the suspect took off at a high speed and led them onto Hwy. 100 where they followed until stopping the vehicle at Duluth Street, police said.
The suspect surrendered without incident. Police found a handgun in the vehicle, which officers learned had been stolen from a residence in Brooklyn Park, police said.
