A man armed with a handgun was fatally shot by police Monday morning following a crime spree that included him kidnapping a woman at gunpoint in Maplewood, sexually assaulting her in St. Paul and taking a Cottage Grove family hostage, authorities said.

The man was shot by two officers around 9 a.m. in the 7400 block of Hidden Valley Court South, near where he briefly held the family of four hostage before stealing their pickup truck, crashing it and fleeing on foot, authorities said.

“He was armed with a handgun as he encountered officers from multiple jurisdictions,” said Pete Koerner, Cottage Grove police chief, during a Monday news conference. A Cottage Grove officer and an officer from a “neighboring agency” fired their guns, Koerner said.

Investigators from Maplewood, St. Paul and Cottage Grove continue to work with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to gather evidence and details about the alleged crimes.

When asked whether the man shot at the officers, Koerner said, “I don’t have a lot of details on the engagement at the scene. (We will) let the Minnesota BCA do their interviews and let us know.”

The man’s identity was not released by authorities Monday.

IT STARTED IN MAPLEWOOD

Authorities said just after 8 a.m. a woman reported she had been kidnapped at gunpoint by a stranger as she arrived at work around 6 a.m. at the Ramsey County Care Center, a senior nursing home along White Bear Avenue.

The woman said the man drove her vehicle to her St. Paul home in the 300 block of Londin Circle and sexually assaulted her, said Steve Linders, St. Paul police spokesman. The man then stole a vehicle from the home and fled.

The woman had been bound, but was able to get free and call 911.

A short time later, St. Paul officers used a GPS in the stolen vehicle to find it abandoned in Cottage Grove, Linders said.

Around 8:30 a.m., according to authorities, the man stole another vehicle by gunpoint at a residence in the Hidden Valley neighborhood, which is just off of Hardwood Avenue and 70th Street.

A half-hour later, after ditching that vehicle, he entered the family’s house in the same neighborhood. After being held hostage, the family escaped the house just before the man drove out of the garage in their pick-up truck, Koerner said.

But officers had set up outside, and the man made it just down the street before crashing. Armed with the handgun, he ran about 50 yards and was shot, Koerner said.

No officers were injured, Koerner said.

“It could have been much worse,” Koerner said. “Honestly, I can’t imagine what the family’s going through, either the one victimized by their vehicle stolen or the family having an unknown person come to their house. Terrible.”

Parts of the incident in Cottage Grove were captured by officers’ body cameras and squad car cameras, Koerner said. Cottage Grove officers are not equipped with body cameras.

The Cottage Grove officer is on a leave of absence, while the status of the officer from the unnamed law enforcement agency was unknown Monday.

Around 10 a.m., the man’s body could be seen uncovered at the end of a driveway. Cottage Grove police had set a multi-block perimeter up around the area, blocking all traffic. Members of a S.W.A.T. team also were on scene.

Dick Ihrke, who lives a few blocks away from the scene, said he thought he heard a vehicle zoom by his house at 8:30 or 9 a.m. Ihrke said the neighborhood is usually very quiet and this was the most commotion he’s seen in the area in the more than 30 years as a resident.