Some Information Emerging in Cloquet Shooting Deaths, But Most Questions Remain

At Tuesday morning's press conference, the Chief said they still don't know if there were any connections between two victims and shooter.

Law enforcement investigators spent the night at the crime scene in Cloquet. Investigators say a man shot and killed a female desk clerk, and then shot another man who was sitting in a car.  The gunman then shot himself.

Tuesday morning, Chief Derek Randall said investigators were still looking for answers for what happened at the Super 8 motel.

He said the names of the three deceased will not be released for about twenty-four hours, pending the notification of family.

Randall said he did not yet know if there was any connection between the two men and the female, who was a 22-year-old Super 8 employee.

However, some new information was provided.

Chief Randall said the 35-year-old male victim found shot in his car was from Deer River.

Randall said the 32-year-old man believed to be the shooter was from Ramsey, Minnesota.

He said he believed that the two men were both guests at the motel.

Chief Randall said surveillance footage inside the motel helped them identify one of the dead men in the parking lot as the shooter. Police say there was a gun next to him, and he is believed to have shot himself.

Randall said the evening began with a call to 911 from a motel employee, saying it looked like a female employee had been “attacked.”

The woman was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound, but she did not survive.

The chief said the clerk was in the vicinity of the front desk when she was shot.

The chief said police arrived within ten minutes of the time of the incident.

Law enforcement determined they had an “active shooter” situation, and at 7:04 p.m., ordered a “shelter in place” and told the public to stay home.

When authorities arrived, they searched the entire hotel room-by-room.

When the building was considered safe, they then began reviewing the surveillance video. Randall said the video was “crucial” in helping them determine that the dead man on the property was the shooter.

Meanwhile, law enforcement outside had found the male victim man shot-to-death in his car in the parking lot.

Certain that they had the shooter, and the public was no longer in potential danger, the “shelter-in-place” was lifted at 8:36.

Chief Randall said that in his, “…twenty plus years with the department, I have never issued a shelter-in-place alert.”

The chief said that the motel has no history of any more calls than any other lodging facility in town.