A St. Paul police officer responding to a 911 call near Cretin and Marshall avenues was shot and a suspect critically injured Thursday afternoon, according to the St. Paul Police Department.

St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said in a press conference Thursday night that a woman told police a man, against whom she had an order of protection, had been following her in her vehicle.

She said he was “intentionally driving his vehicle into hers,” Ernster said. “She also stated that he was in possession of a handgun and had also broken out a window of her vehicle.”

According to the St. Paul Police Department, the shooting occurred after the officers arrived on the scene around 2 p.m.

“That man fired toward our officers with that handgun, striking him in the lower leg,” Ernster said. “Our officer returned fire, striking the man and critically injuring him.”

Ernster said that the officer was taken to the hospital by another officer. The wounded officer has been released from the hospital, while the suspect remains in the hospital with “life-threatening injuries.”

According to Ernster, the woman who made the initial 911 call was not injured.

The incident is under investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the officer has been placed on administrative leave. Ernster added that the officer was wearing a body camera that was activated, and that footage would be reviewed in the investigation.

At the press conference, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter called it “a scary day” for the city.

“One of the most scary calls that a Mayor can receive is that an officer has been injured by gunfire on duty,” Carter said. “We are all breathing a sigh of relief that the officer is recovering.”

St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said that the investigation is ongoing.

“Our city’s experienced six domestic violence homicides this year. Our officers get called to these situations — when they’re asked to help they’re going to respond,” Henry said. “No one in our community, particularly our officers, wants things to turn out this way.”

The University of St. Thomas Public Safety issued an alert at 11:20 p.m., stating that St. Paul Police had cleared the intersection, which had been blocked off since that afternoon.

Public Safety issued an alert to the community shortly before 3 p.m., warning of “a police involved shooting,” and for students to stay away from the area.

St. Thomas issued another alert at 3:07 p.m. which stated that the “scene is contained and there is no threat to the campus community,” but still warned students to keep clear of the intersection.

Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu. Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.