Updated: 5 Officers Shot, Suspect Identified

Updated: 5:00 p.m. 10-12-2023

PRINCETON (WJON News) - Five law enforcement officers and a suspect were taken to the hospital Thursday morning after a search warrant was executed in Benton County.

Five members of the Sherburne County Drug Task Force were shot while serving the warrant in the area of 190^th Avenue and Glendorado Road Northeast in Northern Benton County. The officers involved were all undercover officers with the task force.

All officers are expected to survive. Since all the officers are working undercover, their names are being withheld, but officials say three are members of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office, one is from the Princeton Police Department, and one is from the Elk River Police Department.

According to Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck, the task force attempted to serve the warrant at a residence about 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. The officers announced themselves before being met with gunfire while inside the residence and retreated outside.

Two officers were hit in their bullet-proof vests, while the other three were hit elsewhere. All officers were taken by ambulance or air ambulance for treatment.

After several hours of negotiation, the suspect was taken into custody without incident at 10:47 a.m.

The suspect, 64-year-old Karl Thomas Holmberg, was also injured after an exchange of gunfire with authorities. After he surrendered, he was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale.

A woman in the residence during the firefight was taken to M Health Fairview Northland Medical Center in Princeton, treated, and released.

Sheriff Heck says everyone worked together to achieve a peaceful resolution.

This has been a difficult day. And we are grateful that the incident did not result in further injury or in loss of life. We are also grateful for the bravery and professionalism of all the law enforcement personnel involved in this incident. We are very grateful for the assistance of all our partners who came to our aid and we are particularly grateful for our negotiators who worked so hard to bring this incident to a peaceful end.

Sheriff Heck credits negotiators from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for the work to get Holmberg to come out of the residence and surrender.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will conduct an independent investigation of the incident.

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