Anyone who was on I-94 yesterday afternoon between St. Michael and Hasty were aware of a massive traffic backup in the eastbound lanes of I-94. It was the result of a shooting in St. Cloud that led to a high-speed chase on I-94 that was initiated by Stearns County deputies and came to a end when Wright County deputies used road spikes to disable the vehicle.

Here is the incident report released by the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office:

INCIDENT DESCRIPTION:   

On December 13, 2021, at approximately 2:44 p.m., Stearns County Deputies received information that the St. Cloud Police Department was responding to the report of shooting that had just occurred. Information was also broadcast about a suspect vehicle and possible direction of travel. Several minutes later two Stearns County Deputies located the potential suspect vehicle on Interstate 94, west of Highway 24, near the Stearns County and Wright County border. The deputies attempted to stop the vehicle and it fled eastbound on Interstate 94. The pursuit continued for several miles and assistance was provided by the Minnesota State Patrol and the Wright County Sheriff’s Office. The pursuit came to an end near Monticello just west of Mile Marker 194 after the vehicle’s tires were deflated using road spikes.  

When officers approached the vehicle, the occupant appeared to have suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No officers fired their weapon during the incident. The identity of the deceased is being held until further investigation is complete.   

The investigation into the death of the driver of the vehicle being pursued is being conducted by the Wright County Sheriff’s Office.