Officers from three metro-area police forces flooded the West Bank area Friday night, roping off busy sections of campus while tracking a man suspected in a fatal shooting and who is believed to have killed himself near the Mississippi River.

The man, who has not been identified, is suspected in a shooting at a Brooklyn Park grocery store before fleeing and taking his own life at the foot of the Washington Avenue Bridge between 9:30 and 10 p.m.

The earlier shooting left one person dead and sent another to the hospital, according to media reports.

University of Minnesota senior Anne Stanton, who was walking across the Washington Avenue Bridge near the time of the incident, said she and her friend âÄúheard what we assumed were two muffled shots.âÄù

University students watching the scene unfold from the river bluffs said they later saw a body sprawled on the sidewalk on West River Parkway near the bridge.

Police blocked the pedestrian level of the major thoroughfare and cordoned off buildings near the area.

A police helicopter aided rifle-toting officers as they searched along the west bank of the river, witnesses said.

-Jill Jensen, Kara Harms and Ian Larson contributed to this report