Four officers fired guns in Mankato shootout that killed man

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says four law officers fired their guns in a shootout near Mankato that killed a robbery suspect as he tried to escape in a raft on the Minnesota River.

The BCA says two officers are with the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office, one is a Nicollet County sheriff’s deputy and one is a North Mankato police officer.

The man who died was earlier identified as 24-year-old Austin Dean Heights, who had no permanent address. Heights died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The BCA says Heights robbed a gas station Saturday and fled in a raft while exchanging gunfire with officers. He was shot as he tried to get out of the raft. Two guns were found at the scene.