A Woodbury police officer is recovering from wounds related to a shooting after he responded to a domestic call late Thursday night that left one man dead at a home in the Royal Oaks neighborhood.
Woodbury officers arrived at a home on the 7200 block of Braemar Lane just before 11:30 p.m. in what they described as a domestic incident involving a gun, according to public safety officials.
Police say a man involved in the incident, identified as Timothy Scott Hanson, 55, was shot and killed at the scene after he fired on an officer who responded to the call from the home.
The officer was hit by the suspect’s gunfire and returned fire on the suspect, said Woodbury Public Safety director Lee Vague during a press conference Friday.
The officer was taken to Regions Hospital where he was treated for serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Hanson was pronounced dead at the scene.
The officer, an 8-year veteran of the department, was recovering in the hospital and had a “very, very favorable prognosis,” Vague said.
“I was very happy when I spoke with the officer,” Vague said. “He was doing much better than I had thought when I went down to the hospital.”
Vague would not identify the officer Friday as he said the shooting incident was under investigation led by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He said the officer has received multiple decorations and commendations in his career with the department.
Vague would not comment on the number of shots that were exchanged between the officer and the suspect or where the officer was hit, citing the ongoing investigation
“Our role is to assist (the BCA) in the investigation and supply them with any information they need,” Vague said during the press conference held at the Woodbury Public Safety Department.
Police would not reveal the exact nature of the call from the Hanson home as it came into police at 11:23 p.m. Thursday, but Vague said officers who responded to the incident were prepared for a domestic violence situation.
A neighbor said police came to her door around midnight to notify her of the incident and ask if she heard gunshots.
Martina DeMike, who lives on Braemar Lane, said she remembers hearing sounds and thinking it could be gunshots.
"It sounded like cars backfiring," DeMike said.
The domestic disturbance call was the seventh time police have responded to an emergency situation at Hanson's home since September 2008 and more than 20 times between 2000 and 2007.
Vague said police officers are specifically trained to handle domestic violence calls, which can be one of the more dangerous in nature.
“Our goal in any domestic call we take is to protect the lives of domestic abuse victims,” Vague said. “On occasion we know we put an officer in a situation where they have to protect their lives as well. And that’s exactly what happened with the situation that took place last evening.”
- Scott Wente contributed to this report
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