Shelter-in-place warning lifted for Pine Island, suspect in custody
PINE ISLAND, Minn. -- After several hours of negotiation, law enforcement took an individual into custody following a shelter-in-place order in Pine Island, about 20 miles north of Rochester.
The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office said it was responding to a possible domestic dispute in the southeastern Pine Island area early Saturday afternoon. The public was asked to stay clear of the area.
Police said the suspect began to make threats of using firearms against members of law enforcement and said they were holding a hostage.
SWAT teams of Goodhue and Olmstead counties were called on-site and determined there are no additional people in the house.
Later in the night, SWAT teams deployed less lethal rounds on the suspect, who then returned fire and hit law enforcement vehicles. No one was hurt in the incident.
The suspect was taken into custody and is awaiting charges, police say.
A shelter-in-place alert was meant to be sent only to those in close proximity to the incident but was accidentally sent to a greater portion of Minnesota than intended.
"Unfortunately, an emergency alert system went out to everybody in Olmsted and Goodhue county, and for that I am sorry," said Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly. "We do not have to shelter in place if you're not in that four or five-block radius of the incident in Pine Island."
The incident is under investigation.
