Officer shooting in Minnesota: 5 officers suffered gunshot wounds; suspect arrested

A suspect was arrested following hours of negotiations late Thursday morning after he and five law enforcement officers exchanged gunfire in a Minnesota town, authorities said. The suspected gunman and the officers all sustained injuries.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook that officers with the Sherburne County Drug Task Force were executing a search warrant in a Benton County home about 73 miles northwest of Minneapolis when they were shot.

The Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

The suspect arrested Thursday was 64-year-old Karl Thomas Holmberg, Heck said at a news conference streamed by a television reporter on Thursday afternoon. Holmberg was taken into custody at 10:47 a.m. after hours of negotiations "without further incident," Heck said. He was still at the hospital as of Thursday afternoon. A woman inside the home when shots were fired was also transported to the hospital, where she was evaluated and released.

He was transported to the hospital after being taken into custody. The extent and cause of his injuries were not known. All five injured officers were expected to survive, he said.

The standoff began early Thursday in a rural section of the state. Shortly after 7 a.m., law enforcement arrived at the house to execute a search warrant. Heck said the officers announced their arrival multiple times before entering the house. Soon after, they came under fire. Multiple officers returned fire and retreated from the residence, he added.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed to the AP it responded to the scene.

Five officers from the Sherburne County Drug Task Force were injured, including three from the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office, one from the Princeton Police Department and one from the Elk River Police Department, Heck said. Two officers sustained shots that struck their bulletproof vests. They have been released from the hospital. Three other officers continue to be treated for gunshot injuries, Heck said.

Heck declined to disclose the names of the officers, all of whom were working in an undercover capacity.

“This has been a difficult day for us in Benton County,” Heck said at the conference. “We are grateful that the incident did not result in loss of life or further injury.”

Video from the scene showed law enforcement converging on a rural area with homes surrounded by farm fields.

Contributing: Associated Press.