Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed at Minnesota hospital; suspect dead

(Reuters) – A sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed on Sunday after a man he was guarding at a Minnesota hospital grabbed his gun during a struggle, authorities said.

The suspect later died after a hospital guard subdued him with a Taser, authorities said.

Aitkin County Sheriff’s Investigator Steven Sandberg, 60, had been guarding Danny Leroy Hammond, 50, who was being investigated in connection with a domestic incident, authorities said.

Hammond got out of his hospital bed and took the officer’s firearm during a struggle, Drew Evans, superintendent of the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a news conference.

Hammond, who was not handcuffed at the time, was subdued by a hospital security guard using a Taser, authorities said. Hammond became unresponsive and later died.

Several shots were fired during the incident that took place on a fifth-floor medical unit of the hospital at around 5:15 a.m. local time (1015 GMT).

No other hospital patients or staff were injured during the shooting, which was confined to a patient room at St. Cloud Hospital, located about 60 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

Authorities did not immediately provide details on the domestic incident.

Hammond had not been arrested, but was a suspect in a domestic-related incident who was receiving treatment at the hospital. He was being monitored at the request of the hospital.

Sandberg was a 24-year veteran with the Aitkin Sheriff’s office.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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