A North Dakota police officer who was shot during a standoff with a domestic violence suspect sustained a 'non-survivable' wound, Fargo's police chief said early Thursday.
The officer, identified as Jason Moszer, 33, responded to the scene of the standoff and parked near a home where the unidentified suspect had barricaded himself. The suspect fired several times, striking Moszer.
"Tonight the Fargo Police Department is mouing the loss of our brother officer," said Chief Dave Todd.
SWAT teams transported Moszer to a nearby hospital, where his family was with him. It was not immediately clear whether the officer had been formally pronounced dead.
Fargo Deputy Police Chief Joe Anderson told the Associated Press the incident began around 7 p.m. when a caller told dispatchers his father had possibly fired a gun at his mother.
Anderson says the caller and the suspect's wife were able to leave the home unharmed. The suspect then called dispatchers and told them to evacuate nearby houses because he plaed to open fire, then shot multiple rounds out of the house.
The Forum newspaper reported that nearby residents were asked to stay on the lower level of their homes or go into their basements. Police did door-to-door checks on nearby houses and don't believe anyone else is injured, Anderson said.
The standoff was still ongoing as of 3 a.m local time. Anderson said authorities have tried to communicate with the suspect through negotiators, but he has been unresponsive.
There’s no guidebook, if you will, for this. I mean, we don’t want to rush it and put officers in a bad situation,” Anderson said. “If we can talk him out and end the situation that way, that’s preferable.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.