Man exchanges gunfire with police in St. Paul grocery store, wounds 2 before turning gun on himself

A man exchanged gunfire with St. Paul police inside an Aldi grocery store on the east side Friday afternoon, then shot two women at a nearby cafe and ran into a Cub Foods, where he turned the gun on himself as officers attempted in vain to negotiate with him inside the store.

The frantic scene unfolded after officers were called about 11:40 a.m. to the 1500 block of Jessamine Lane, on a report of a domestic violence incident where a man allegedly pistol-whipped a person in a house and fired his gun, though no one was struck by the gunfire, Chief Axel Henry said at a Friday afternoon news conference.

Police responded and found the man had fled on foot and left the home with a young child. They were alerted to someone possibly matching the description at the Aldi grocery store about half a mile to the west in the 1100 block of Clarence Street, and officers attempted to talk to the man, Henry said.

The man shoved the officers and ran to the front of the store, pulled out a handgun and exchanged gunfire with police, though no one was hit by the gunfire, Henry said. During this exchange, the child was recovered from the Aldi.

The man then fled across Clarence toward Cub, with an officer pursuing him on foot. In between the two grocery stores, two women were shot at Destiny Cafe 2 and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Henry said. The chief did not specify who shot the two women, but he said it does not appear officers fired their guns at that location.

As the man continued to flee toward Cub, an officer fired multiple shots toward him, and police hustled people out of the store, Henry said.

“Shots fired, Cub Foods!” Multiple officers radioed, according to emergency dispatch audio. “Looks like he might be running into Cub Foods.”

The store was placed on lockdown while police radioed “we do have a lot of people rushing out of this store, Let’s get a team in there. ... We’ve got a lot of people moving in and out of here.”

Soon afterward, word came over dispatch audio, “We’re making contact with the individual. All officers hold their positions outside.”

The evacuation sent civilians out the store while others were secured inside the pharmacy and other areas of the store.

“We are talking to him but, we’re not making a whole lot of progress,” one officer said.

At 12:57 p.m., came the word over police audio that the gunman shot himself and posed no further threat.

The store remained closed late Friday afternoon while crime-scene tape and evidence markers were placed throughout the scene as the investigation continued. Several Cub employees declined to comment.

A woman who said she knew the man who died was standing in the McDonald’s parking lot across the street. Mileesha Smith said she wants police to release both the body camera footage and the in-store security footage to show what happened.

“It’s heartbreaking because he’s somebody’s father,” Smith said. “Regardless of anything, he shouldn’t be dead in that store.”

Police said they intend to release the body camera footage early next week.

Mayor Melvin Carter joined Henry at the news conference and applauded the officers for their work. Henry said he believes the officers prevented the situation from being “way, way worse.”

”I don’t think it’s wrong to say it’s a miracle we don’t have greater injuries or deaths in this case today," Henry said.

The officers who fired their weapons will be placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure, according to the news release.

Star Tribune staff writer Abby Simons contributed to this report.