Horrifying footage captured the moment a domestic abuse suspect pulled a gun on police, killing one officer, at his home.

Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Owen was killed on his 44th birthday after responding to the Cyrus, Minnesota, home of  Bryan Nygard, 34.

Deputy Brody Merrill and Starbuck police officer Alex Olsen were also injured in the April, 2023, shooting. 

The shooting began after the officers entered his home, spoke to Nygard and a woman and informed the suspect that he was going to be arrested for domestic assault. 

Scott Mueller, deputy superintendent for investigations at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the man responded by pulling a handgun and shooting at the officers. 

Horrifying footage captured the moment a domestic abuse suspect pulled a gun on police, killing one officer, at his home

Nygard and the officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect dying at the scene. 

The woman who had been in the apartment had left by the time the shooting started, per CBS News.  

Owen had worked as a deputy for nearly 12 years after previously serving in the U.S. military, Sheriff Tim Riley said. His squad car was parked outside the Pope County Courthouse in Glenwood Sunday with a bouquet of flowers on the ground in front of the car. 

‘Deputy Owen had a heart as big as his stature. He leaves behind a wife and a son,’ Riley said while trying to hold back tears at a news conference.

The suspect had been sitting down when he was informed that he was going to be arrested and pulled out the gun, opening fire

Owen had worked as a deputy for nearly 12 years after previously serving in the U.S. military

‘He loved his family, his brotherhood and his community.’

According to the Pope County Sheriff’s office’s Facebook page, Owen had just been honored along with two other first responders for his response to a Glenwood house fire.

The department said Owen helped care for an individual injured in the fire after another deputy and another responder pulled that person from a burning house.

Cyrus is a town of about 300 people that is 140 miles northwest of Minneapolis.