A Brooklyn Park man is recovering from a shooting in his neighborhood Thursday that sent a hail of bullets through at least five townhomes and led to a pursuit that ended with the suspect crashing into two squad cars.
Deputy Chief Mark Bruley said officers in the rammed squad cars both suffered concussions and are out of work until further evaluation. He said the 29-year-old man who was struck by indiscriminate gunfire was "profusely bleeding" from the femoral artery in his left leg when officers arrived at the scene.
"If not for the quick thinking and action of the officers, 10 more minutes, he would've been dead," Bruley said.
Family has identified the victim as Scott Rupp, according to an online fundraiser created by Rupp's brother, Shaun Fischer.
"He heard the first shot go off and come through the wall, was standing up to leave the room and was struck in the femoral artery of his left leg. He called 911 and had enough knowledge to make his own tourniquet using a belt to slow the bleeding. Crawled to his front door to unlock and wait for help. Responding officers were credited with helping save his life, applying multiple tourniquets," Fischer wrote on the GoFundMe.
The alleged shooter, 45-year-old Terry Neal Johnson, will appear in court Monday afternoon on three felony firearm charges. Bruley said Johnson was not charged with fleeing police or assaulting officers, which were both captured on dash camera video first shared by Fox 9.
According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to shots fired in the 6600 block of 83rd Court. After tending to Rupp, officers saw a white BMW drive through the garage doors of the townhome from where the shots originated, and they attempted to stop Johnson, who also goes by the name of Bryan J. Morgan.
Video shows Johnson attempting to flee police and ramming his vehicle into two squad cars, then refusing to exit.
SWAT and crisis negotiators were called to the scene, and Johnson was eventually taken into custody.
The complaint says that officers located 14 9mm rounds of ammunition in his pocket, matching the handgun officers found on the kitchen stove during a search of Johnson's house, which is adjacent to Rupp's. Numerous spent casings and live rounds were scattered on the floor.
Johnson was illegally in possession of the firearm because he was previously convicted of third-degree assault, according to the complaint.
"It's just another example of the broken criminal justice system," Bruley said. "A small fraction of our community that victimizes the rest, and it's just a revolving door. And even when they go to jail, the sentences are minimal."
Bruley added there have been 250 shootings in Brooklyn Park in the past two years.
"We've never seen numbers like that. That's numbers that we would have seen over the course of six, seven years. It is beyond troublesome what's going on in our communities."
Bruley said that he recognizes violence is an issue across the nation, and that, along with looking at areas of police reform, strategies need to include holding people accountable.
"Show people there's accountability and consequences to bad acting," he said, "that fleeing the police and jeopardizing the safety of other community members and the safety of the police officers should be punished."
