A North Dakota man has been arrested after two police officers were shot and wounded early Friday in Delafield, Wisconsin, according to news reports.
Both deputies survived, and their injuries are considered non-life threatening.
Authorities have charged 23-year-old Nathanael Benton of Fargo, who was also wanted for attempted murder after a separate shooting there Sunday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The shooting of the Wisconsin officers happened about 1:40 a.m. near the Holiday Inn Express on Golf Road in Delafield after officers confronted a hit-and-run suspect.
The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office said both officers were in uniform when the suspect opened fire.
It remains unclear whether the deputies returned fire.
Nearby schools and highways were shut down for a large part of Friday morning, and residents were warned to shelter in place as police sought the suspect.
Hours later, about 11:15 a.m., a resident in an area less than a mile from the shooting reported seeing a suspicious person in a vacant lot. Police arrived and arrested Benton without incident, reports said.
Police would not confirm whether Benton possessed a gun at the time of his arrest nor would they say if he was injured.
“I am thankful to hear that the officers involved in the shooting are OK and have non-life-threatening injuries,” Delafield Mayor Kent Attwell said in a statement. “They and their families are in our hearts and thoughts during this difficult time. I’m confident that our Police Department and the surrounding law-enforcement agencies will find the suspect and bring him to justice.”
Two other unidentified suspects were also arrested immediately after the shooting, although their connection to the case was unclear.
Delafield Police Chief Erik Kehl said one of his officers and another from nearby Hartland confronted a man suspected in the hit-and-run crash outside a Holiday Inn at Interstate 94 and Highway 83 in Waukesha County, about 27 miles west of Milwaukee.
Shots were exchanged and the two officers were hit, Kehl said.
The suspect was at large for nearly 10 hours.
About the Author
