Police: Superior, Wis., officer shot before suspect crashes van into middle school

A Superior, Wis., police officer who was shot multiple times early Sunday during a traffic stop has been treated and released from a Duluth hospital.

Authorities were sent to the site of a domestic dispute around 2:45 a.m. The officer initiated a traffic stop with a white van that matched the description of a vehicle tied to the original call, according to police.

The driver got out of his van on Tower Avenue, one of the city’s main roads, and fired shots from a semi-automatic rifle that hit the officer and her squad car, according to Superior Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt, who spoke at a news conference Sunday at the city’s Government Center.

The officer, who was hit, and another officer returned shots and hit the suspect, police said. The suspect then drove off and crashed his van into the main entrance on the west side of Superior Middle School.

The suspect holed up in a room at the school for four hours before he surrendered and was arrested at the scene, police said. He was taken to a local hospital and later to the Douglas County, Wis., jail. He is expected to be charged with attempted murder, according to Winterscheidt.

Authorities said the suspect is someone who is known to local authorities. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been charged.

The injured officer was taken to Essentia Health in Duluth, where she was treated and later released, according to authorities.

Officers involved in the shooting were put on paid administrative leave, as is the agency’s policy.

The domestic dispute involved a physical altercation, the police chief said, but no weapons..

The police chief could not recall the last time a Superior officer was shot in the line of duty. Winterscheidt did not release the names of the officers during the news conference, saying they were considered crime victims.

“I can tell you, I watched the [body cam] video, and I was absolutely taken aback by the officer’s bravery, their composure... I can’t think of a more terrifying thing,” Winterscheidt said.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation.

Superior is a Wisconsin city of about 27,000 people across a bridge from Duluth. It is the other half of the Twin Ports.