🚔 What we know about this morning's active shooter incident inside a Minnehaha Ave apartment building

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A chaotic situation involving an active shooter with an assault rifle inside an apartment building at 40th and Minnehaha Avenue ended with police shooting the suspect around 4:30 this morning.

Police Chief Brian O'Hara reported that the shooter is in critical condition at HCMC and no one else was injured in what he described as an "unpredictable, terrifying, and rapidly evolving" incident.

According to a police briefing this morning and recordings from the police scanner:

Around 10:30 last night, MPD received 911 calls about a man walking around the area with a shotgun. Police canvassed the area but didn't turn up a suspect. Then, around 4:30 this morning, dozens of 911 calls began to flood in about shots fired inside the apartment building at 4052 Minnehaha Ave. Some callers from inside the apartment building reported sounds of banging on their doors and glass shattering.

When police arrived, there were bullet holes in the door to the entrance of the building and shell casings on the stoop. Once inside, officers found a unit with the door open, empty, with a shotgun lying on the floor.

As they began evacuating residents, they saw flashes of gunfire from the north stairwell. They descended upon the stairwell and shot the suspect once in the jaw, after which they were able to disarm him. The shooting took place about an hour after the first shots were reported.

Update: On September 9, the Star Tribune identified the suspect as 40-year-old Nathan Matz, a resident of the apartment building with no prior criminal history. He's in stable condition at HCMC and expected to survive. Matz was wearing a military-style flak jacket and a large backpack, and was found with both an AK-47 rifle and a .45 caliber handgun. The bomb squad searched the backpack and found additional magazines of ammunition inside. Police have not identified a motive.

O'Hara said police searched the rest of the apartment building and surrounding properties, and determined the shooter appeared to be acting alone. He said that no other injuries had been reported, though two nearby houses had been damaged by the gunfire. Residents of the apartment were evacuated by Metro Transit buses to a temporary shelter.

As of 9 a.m. Saturday, Minnehaha Avenue was still blocked off between 40th Street and 42nd Street. Dozens of police cars were parked in the area blocking the street. Dripping Root juice bar owner Catiesha Pierson reported that she arrived at her store at 6 a.m. to start prepping for the day and wasn't allowed to get to her store. Businesses like All Square and The Clay Pit ultimately opened later in the day, directing customers to park and walk from outside the closure area.

As is standard practice, the officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will conduct its own investigation and will eventually release more details, including body cam footage. This article will be updated with more information as it becomes available.