Two officers are saved by bullet-proof vests
Minneapolis police said bad information led cops to the wrong house. The resident said he shot in self-defense.
By Patrick Kennedy, Star Tribune
Last update: December 16, 2007 - 10:00 PM
Minneapolis police on Sunday were investigating how the wrong information led them to attempt to search a north Minneapolis house, which led to shots exchanged between police -- who were struck by bullets -- and the resident, who said he was just defending himself.
Two Minneapolis police officers were shot during the exchange but were saved by their bullet-proof vests and helmets, police said in a statement.
The Police Department's SWAT team was attempting to search a house in the 1300 block of Logan Avenue N., at 12:46 a.m. as part of an investigation by the Violent Offender Task Force. But police said that they learned later that the wrong information led them to that house.
"It was found out that this particular address was not part of that long-term investigation," police spokesman Sgt. Jesse Garcia III told KSTP-TV on Sunday. He told KMSP-TV that it was a "bad situation. It could have been much worse."
Garcia said it was not so much a mistake by Minneapolis police but a mistake in the information that was given to them.
Dao Vang, who told the station he is the brother of the homeowner, Khang Vang, said his brother, who does not speak English, thought the police were "the bad guys."
"He took out his shotgun and he said if they are bad guys I'll shoot, I'll scare them away," Vang said. "He fired first, he told me it was two shots."
Khang Vang was taken into custody but later released, according to reports, which said he has a wife and six children.
Garcia did not return repeated calls from the Star Tribune on Sunday. Questions about the shooting on Sunday night were referred to Lt. Amelia Huffman, head of the homicide unit, who also did not return calls.
In a statement released shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, police said that officers found no one on the first floor of the house. When they made their way up to the second floor of the residence they were confronted by an adult male. The officers identified themselves as police, and the male fired several rounds at them. Several officers returned fire, but no one in the house was injured. The adult male was taken into custody.
No one answered the front door at the house on Sunday night.
Investigations by the Minneapolis Police Department's homicide and internal affairs units are underway. According to standard department procedures, the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave during the initial investigation.
The names of those involved were not immediately available.
