ST PAUL, Minn. — Police say the man shot and injured by St. Paul police officers on Monday night was wanted in connection with two Minneapolis shootings, including the double fatal shooting Sunday at a small encampment.
The man, who was later identified as 40-year-old Earl Bennett, was shot by officers after he pointed a gun at police during a confrontation Monday night, according to a press release from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
Minneapolis Police say Bennett was a suspect in two shootings since Sunday. Officers say the first shooting occurred Sunday afternoon when three people were shot at an encampment on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue. Two of the victims died and one was taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries. Bennett has not been officially charged in Sunday's shooting.
However, according to court documents, Bennett is charged with first-degree attempted murder in connection to a second shooting after he allegedly shot another man in the neck inside a sober living facility on the 3500 block of Columbus Avenue Monday evening. The victim was transported to a hospital and is in critical condition.
Later that night, police were called to the 400 block of Pierce Street in St. Paul just before 7:45 p.m. on reports of shots being fired in the area. When police arrived, they found a man walking around the area with a gun. At one point, when police approached the man, he put the gun to his own head, according to St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster.
Police began to negotiate with the man for a peaceful surrender, but he reportedly refused to drop the weapon and started walking in the middle of traffic on Snelling Avenue. Court documents say Bennett stopped in the middle of light rail tracks, and officers fired "non-lethal" rubber balls at him. Bennett then pointed the gun at police, according to charging documents, and officers responded by firing their weapons. Police recovered an unloaded 9mm handgun at the scene that prosecutors say was tied to the casings fired in Sunday's double fatal shooting.
Bennett was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County with illegally possessing a firearm and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
The BCA said it is in the early stages of its investigation.
All the officers who discharged their weapons have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.