Man in crisis brought to hospital after standoff with police in MOA North Lot
(KSTP)
(KSTP) – Bloomington police have released new information about a standoff in Mall of America’s North Lot Friday evening.
While police tweeted around 7 p.m. that the man had been taken into custody, a news release sent out around 9 p.m. clarifies that he was detained and brought to the hospital.
Just after 4 p.m. on Friday, a woman called police and said that a man in the North Lot had a large gun. She said he then went inside a circus tent that was also in the parking lot.
There was a 4 p.m. show for the Royal Canadian International Circus occurring at the Mall during this time.
When officers got to the scene, they saw the man in the parking lot with a shotgun. The man wasn’t cooperative with officers and refused to put the gun down, according to police.
People were evacuated from the circus tent, as well as a nearby hotel.
Officers called the man’s family member and learned that he was in crisis and had access to other guns.
At 6:15 p.m., officers were able to get the man to drop the shotgun and retreat to his car. Officers then contained the car so the man couldn’t get away, police said. The man refused to leave the car.
Around 6:43 p.m., the man got out of the car and was detained by officers. He was then brought to the hospital, police said.