An unidentified man is dead after what the Meeker County Sheriff said Saturday was an "exchange of gunfire" with an Eden Valley, Minn., police officer following a brief early-morning chase.
The Sheriff's Office said the man fled west from Eden Valley on Hwy. 55 just after 2 a.m. after the officer attempted to stop him for a traffic offense.
About a mile west of Eden Valley, the sheriff's news release said, the man's vehicle went into a ditch, at which point he got out of the car and an exchange of gunfire followed. The officer then attempted to perform lifesaving measures, it said. Emergency medical services responded, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Reached later Saturday, Sheriff Brian Cruze declined to comment on details of what happened, including the nature of the traffic offense, who fired and in what order, or whether the man was shot by the officer. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating, and a spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.
A handgun was recovered at the scene. The man's body was taken to the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office for formal identification and to determine the cause and manner of death.
The Eden Valley Police Department does not have body cameras, but a squad camera was operating throughout the incident, the Sheriff's Office said.
