One police officer was killed and two others sustained injuries after a gunman opened fire on a busy street in Fargo in North Dakota, authorities said.
The suspect was killed on Friday, the police said, adding that a civilian was also injured during the incident.
Witnesses reported seeing a man opening fire on police officers on a busy street before other officers shot him. Shannon Nichole was driving in that area at that time when “shots were fired” and she “saw cops go down”.
“My airbag went off and the bullet went through my driver’s door,” she told KFGO Radio. A man grabbed her and told her they needed to get out of the area, she recalled.
Authorities said there was no threat to the public but officers converged on a residential area about two miles away and evacuated residents as they gathered evidence related to the incident.
Chenoa Peterson said she was driving with her 22-year-old daughter when a man pulled out a gun and began firing at police. “He proceeds to aim it and you just hear the bullets go off, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God! He’s shooting!’” she told The Associated Press.
Ms Peterson’s first instinct was to pull over and try to help, she said, but her daughter convinced her to leave. “It’s weird knowing that if you were 10 seconds earlier you could have been in that,” she added.
A surveillance video provided by resident Allison Carlson captured the sound of gunfire.
North Dakota attorney general Drew Wrigley said the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation is working with law enforcement agencies in response to a “shooting incident”, without providing further details.
Police and other local agencies across the region posted their sympathies for Fargo police on social media. “Thinking of our brothers and sisters in Fargo,” read a post from the South Dakota Fraternal Order of Police.
The Fargo police department said it plans to release more details later on Saturday.
