A man who family members say was having a mental health crisis was shot and wounded by Coon Rapids police yesterday.
Officers responded to the call around 4:30 p.m. when a relative told them the man was carrying a handgun in his waistband and they feared for others inside his home.
The man was seen walking away and carrying the gun in his hand when officers asked him to drop the weapon.
When he didn't officers began shooting several round from a less-lethal bean-bag shotgun, which they used several times before taking out their service pistols.
"In this particular encounter, they were desperate for the use of less-lethal options," said Coon Rapids police chief Brad Wise. "But in this neighborhood they finally had run out of options, and unfortunately were forced to confront him using firearms."
The man remains in stable condition at HCMC, and no one else was hurt.
"He was moving into a separate residential area, and that he was walking with the handgun in his right hand," Wise said.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is leading the investigation.
