Sergeant Foulk, 32 years old, said the gang members had become upset earlier Saturday that he was filming, from his second-floor window, the comings and goings at a yellow bungalow that has a reputation of being a crack house. He said they had threatened him and he had called fellow Rangers for help. The shooting began soon after the soldiers arrived.

Police Chief Ray Fjetland said the incident could have been avoided if residents had called the police. But Sergeant Foulk said the police were routinely too slow to react.

Army officials said they would wait for completion of the investigation by the police before deciding if disciplinary action was warranted.

But Maj. Clyde Newman, second-in-command of the soldiers' unit, the Second Ranger Battalion, said: ''From everything I am told by the city police, the Rangers were right. They were having a party, and they were attacked.''

Residents of the bungalow said they had not fired any shots at the sergeant's house. They also denied participating in drug deals, although they said drug activity often occurred in front of the house.