Minneapolis Officer Wounded by Automatic Fire During Pursuit

A Minneapolis police officer was shot and wounded by automatic gunfire while pursuing a robbery suspect in an unmarked car on the city's North Side late Friday night, Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.

The seven-year department veteran was struck in the back of the shoulder and taken to the hospital, where he was treated and discharged overnight, the Star Tribune reports.

Four suspects, including a teenage boy, were later taken into custody, O'Hara said. Investigators also recovered one firearm from the scene.

O'Hara gave this account of the chaotic string of events Friday night:

Just before 8 p.m. officers tried to stop an SUV that was associated with a robbery. The vehicle initially pulled over but then fled.

Around an hour later, a uniformed patrol officer driving alone in an unmarked, "unconventional" vehicle observed that same SUV. He pursued the suspect vehicle for about a mile, trailing behind and believing he was "undetected while he was calling for additional officers."

At 9:16 p.m. the officer pursuing the suspect vehicle was hit by a volley of automatic gunfire as he drove past. At least 14 rounds were fired — six struck the squad and one hit the officer in the shoulder.

The officer disengaged and drove to a safe place where a backup officer pulled him from the vehicle and raced him to the hospital.

The suspects were later taken into custody after a second pursuit involving multiple police vehicles.