Bloomington Manhunt Ends With Homicide Suspect Arrested
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- People living in a Bloomington neighborhood lived through a frightful night Wednesday into Thursday morning.
They were locked inside their homes as police and SWAT teams combed back yards and sheds looking for 49 year-old Eddie Frazier. He was wanted in connection with a woman's death earlier in the day in Crookston.
A Bloomington neighborhood that was quiet Thursday morning was suddenly crawling with police. Authorities were alerted that Frazier may be headed to the area. When they spotted his vehicle around 9 p.m. Wednesday, shots were fired.
Frazier was wounded a left a trail of blood on a number of doorsteps.
On a sunny, blue sky morning, residents awoke to the sight of red. Blood spatters on sidewalks, patios and doorsteps. A telltale sign of terror left by a desperate fugitive.
"There were SWAT teams going through our yards," Patty Platt said.
Patty Platt said she refused to let Eddie Frazier in as he sat on her front step, shortly before 10.
"It was scary because I opened the door and noticed I didn't recognize him. So I immediately closed it and had her call 911," Platt said.
An hour earlier, BCA agents tried to stop Frazier just a few blocks away.
"As they attempted to approach the car with the suspected person in it, shots were fired," Deputy Chief Mike Hartley said.
It's believed Frazier was hit by a bullet, leaving a trail of blood.
"They were following a trail of the guy and the blood then they lost scent of it," area resident Brad Doepke said.
For hours, residents remained locked inside their homes as the massive search went on. At one point, the Wandak family had a knock on their door, blood spatters on their sidewalk.
"There was police in the back and up front knocked on the door, said they found blood up here. Want to know if we were safe inside," Tenzing Wandak said.
Eventually, police canines tracked him to a woman's back yard where he was found hiding in a garden shed. Six hours of terror, finally over.
Frazier is being held in the Hennepin County Jail and will be returned to Crookston, where Polk County has already charged him in the death of his girlfriend, in the home the two shared.
The BCA identified the officer involved in the shooting as Special Agent in Charge Scott Mueller. He has led the BCA's Metro Regional Office for more than three yeas and been with the BCA since 2008. He also worked with the White Bear Lake Police Department for eight years. He has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard in these cases.
