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EAGLE LAKE -- A sheriff's deputy was in extremely critical condition Saturday with a gunshot wound suffered in an early morning shootout at a roadblock.
About 100 law enforcement officers took part in a manhunt that ended a few hours later in capture of a second suspect in the shooting.
The Blue Earth County deputy, Robert Smith, 27, was shot in the stomach about 3 a.m., as two men in a car tried to drive and shoot their way around a roadblock, one mile east of Eagle Lake.
The deputy was shot after a series of incidents that included a burglary in Eagle Lake, shots fired at a policeman, a chase by State Patrol cars and a gunfire exchange at another unsuccessful roadblock, authorities said.
The car being pursued then crashed at the second roadblock -and the driver was captured-but another man fled on foot, authorities said.
The ensuing manhunt in an area about nine miles east of Mankato lasted about six hours, involving police bloodhounds brought from Minneapolis, a State Patrol airplane and a helicopter, in addition to the large search force of law enforcement personnel from throughout south-central Minnesota. Held in the case were Steven Gunderson, 20, and Scott Olson, in his 20s, both of Kasota. Blue Earth County authorities said Gunderson suffered a head injury when the car went into a U.S. 14 ditch, after gunshots were exchanged at the second of two roadblocks.
Olson was arrested at the home of his former wife in Eagle Lake, after authorities surrounded the house and used tear gas. Two women and a baby left the house before the tear gas was used. The former wife was not there, authorities said.
"Get out of the streets, get under cover," County Sheriff LaRoy Wiebold told residents of the community of 800 persons as he spoke through a police bullhorn. About 10minutes after the tear gas barrage, Olson was in custody.
Olson had a bullet wound in his forearm and was bleeding from the face. Gunderson had a head injury. Both were taken to Emmanuel -- St. Joseph's Hospital in Mankato but were not believed to be seriously injured.
The deputy, former Waterville police officer who had been with the sheriff's office since June, was under treatment at the same hospital.
Two State Patrol cruisers were struck by gunfire during the chase. One was disabled when a bullet hit the radiator.
The trouble began early Saturday when some shots were fired at an Eagle Lake policeman by someone in a car, just after the burglary of a sports supply store.
State Patrol Cpl. Richard Abraham said that after the shooting report from Eagle Lake police, a car with its rear window broken was spotted about 2:45 a.m. Abraham set up a roadblock on a country road while another State Patrol cruiser pursued the car.
New Ulm Daily Journal
Sept. 26, 1926