Twin Cities Pioneer Press – by Tad Vezner and Sarah Horner
A standoff at a Fridley apartment building Tuesday between SWAT teams and a fugitive wanted for violating his probation for a murder conviction ended with the fugitive injured and in custody, and no one else hurt.
The incident began sometime before 1 p.m., as law enforcement officers and SWAT teams surrounded the building on the 150 block of Island Park Drive near the intersection of East River Road.
The fugitive, Eugene Ryan Boos, 42, was in an apartment on the building’s second floor, along with two women and several children.
Hennepin County officials said their violent offender task force had been conducting surveillance on the building, looking for Boos, who had a Minnesota Department of Corrections arrest warrant.
Authorities were able to evacuate one of the women and the children from the apartment before the situation escalated.
Boos said he had a gun and “was not going to go peacefully with law enforcement,” according to a Hennepin County sheriff’s office statement.
“During the course of these negotiations, Boos exited the apartment with what is believed to be a handgun and subsequently shots were fired,” the statement said, adding that Boos was shot before retreating into the apartment.
Authorities deployed tear gas and used an armored vehicle to break the apartment’s windows before Boos was eventually taken into custody.
Tenants in the building were evacuated to a waiting Metro Transit bus, and those living in surrounding buildings were prevented from returning home as streets surrounding the standoff were blocked off.
At some point during the standoff, Boos called KMSP-TV and spoke for 76 minutes with newsroom employees, sounding “agitated,” the station reported. A KMSP employee said the man was ranting and frequently swearing but did not seem intoxicated.
Boos told KMSP that police had shot his finger off.
KMSP reported that the second woman inside the apartment also spoke to newsroom staff, and told them she wasn’t being held against her will but didn’t want to leave, worried that police would shoot Boos. The woman said Boos was armed with a handgun.
The man ended the call when the station turned its phone over to a Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy.
Just after 7 p.m., Boos was seen being taken from the building on a stretcher. Law enforcement officials said he was alive. The second woman in the apartment was not injured.
Boos has a 1993 conviction for second-degree murder and served 19 years, according to state records. A Department of Corrections spokeswoman had no additional information about the conviction. However, other news media reported Tuesday night that the conviction was for a fatal stabbing in downtown Minneapolis.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461. Follow him at twitter.com/SPnoir. Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_27229986/fugitive-reportedly-barricaded-fridley-apartment