HOSPITALISED SUSPECT STEALS GUN FROM GUARD AND SHOOTS HIM DEAD

A sheriff's deputy was killed after a suspect he was guarding at a Minnesota hospital grabbed his gun and shot him, authorities have said.

Aitkin County deputy Steven Martin Sandberg was tasked with guarding Danny Leroy Hammond at St Cloud Hospital following a domestic incident.

The 60-year-old got into a struggle with the suspect, who was not handcuffed, before his weapon was seized and several shots fired.

Superintendent Drew Evans, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said: "Several shots were fired during that struggle and then security officers were able to get into the room, and the suspect was tased with a Taser, and taken into custody.

"After he was taken into custody he became unresponsive. Medical personnel performed life-saving operations of him and he died at that time."

Autopsies will be carried out on both men.

Officers hold a silent procession to carry Mr Sandberg's body

Hammond, 50, was subdued by two hospital security guards with the help of another Aitkin County deputy who had just arrived to relieve Mr Sandberg on Sunday.

Authorities have not said why Hammond was being treated at the hospital, but he is thought to have been there for more than a day.

Hospital vice president Kurt Otto said staff had asked the sheriff's office to send deputies to monitor Hammond because of the "seriousness" of the alleged domestic incident last week.

Mr Sandberg, who joined the department in 1981, was coming to the end of an overnight shift.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton described it as a "senseless murder".

Law enforcement officers led a silent procession in their patrol cars carrying the body of Deputy Sandberg, who is survived by his wife and daughter.

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