Suspect in shooting at Bloomington restaurant arrested in Oklahoma
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- A man who authorities suspect shot two people inside a Vietnamese restaurant in Bloomington Wednesday is now in custody.
The man, a 47-year-old from Texas, was arrested in Oklahoma around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the Bloomington Police Department.
The shooting happened at the Cô Tu' Oriental Cuisine restaurant near the 8900 block of Penn Avenue.
A man who was inside the restaurant said the gunman, who was wearing an old man Halloween mask and a maroon hoodie, first came in and flashed a gun. A group of customers wrestled the man outside twice before he came back in a third time, when he fired a warning shot before shooting and killing a 49-year-old man who was a regular at the restaurant.
A 25-year-old server was also shot twice. He is expected to survive.
Bloomington police said the suspect fled the scene in a Mercedes van, the same one he was driving when he was arrested. He is being held in an Oklahoma jail.
City council member Jenna Carter says she was just blocks away from the shooting when it happened.
"It's really shaken our community," Carter said of the city's first homicide Thursday. "For people who live here, who do business here, everyone will tell you that Bloomington is like a big small town. Everybody knows everybody. Like I said, I know the owner of Cô Tu', she knows my kids, so it's really heartbreaking, it's really devastating."
Carter says she's proud of the police response, and maintains the city is safe despite the incident.
The shooting is still under investigation, and police said they will release more information on Monday.
"Our hearts go out to the victim and their family as this should be a time of celebration for them but instead it's a time of tremendous grief," Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said. "We are grateful that we were able to lock up the person responsible for their loss."
WCCO-TV typically does not identify those arrested until they have been formally charged.