Man Charged In Duluth’s Gas Station Shooting Case

DULUTH, Minn. — The suspect accused of pulling the trigger of his gun inside the Speedway gas station in Duluth earlier this month has been charged.

30-year-old Joseph Francis Butler is charged with three felonies: second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless discharge of a dangerous weapon, and being a person who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place due to a previous conviction for a violent crime.

Investigators say the September 11th shooting stemmed from a dispute he had with a gas station clerk who was new to the job and struggled to handle the transaction as Butler was trying to pay.

The clerk apparently took the cash out of Butler’s hands which made him irate.

According to the criminal complaint, Butler ran behind the counter as words were exchanged and allegedly punched the employee.

As the clerk tried to physically remove Butler from the store, the suspect apparently grabbed his gun and fired off four or five shots.

None of them hit the employee, but the clerk was brought to the hospital for a bullet graze wound, an injury on his ribs, and a bloody lip from being punched.

Investigators say Butler took off after the incident and was caught days later in Bloomington after the woman he was with was busted for allegedly shoplifting from Walmart.

That woman ratted out Butler as the alleged suspect Duluth police were looking for in the Speedway shooting.

Butler was brought to the St. Louis County jail and could face up to 27 years in prison if convicted of all charges.