Shooting Victim Led High Speed Chase to Cloquet Hospital: Warrant Alleges

No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed

CLOQUET, Minn. – Carlton County Sheriffs say that when responding to an alleged shooting, the victim led them on a chase that reached speeds over 100 mph and involved deputies attempting to stop the vehicle with spike strips. 

Around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Carlton County 911 dispatch received a report that a man had been shot in the leg at 3667 W. Moorhead Rd. on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Carlton County. According to a search warrant application, the caller was the victim’s son. 

The caller told dispatch the victim was insisting on driving himself to the hospital and “did not want to go by ambulance.” The victim then drove off in his truck, according to the caller who followed in a separate vehicle while still on the phone with dispatch.

An officer with the Fond du Lac Tribal Police Department spotted the victim’s truck driving on Hwy 210 near the Sawyer Store and “attempted to stop the vehicle with his emergency lights and sirens to aid” the victim. The victim started to drive erratically “and fled from law enforcement.”

Officer statements alleged the victim’s “speed exceeded 100 MPH and he swerved and brake-checked responding law enforcement patrol cars in an aggressive manner.”

Carlton County Sheriffs Deputies reported they deployed spike strips but that the victim’s truck “fled to Cloquet Memorial Hospital and (the victim) ran inside.”

When authorities spoke with the victim inside the hospital, he claimed his brother was the person who shot him. According to the victim’s initial statements, his brother came to his property before shooting him four times, three striking a bulletproof vest and the other hitting “his side oblique resulting in the injury.” The victim claimed he then shot back, firing around eight times, into the air to scare off his brother.

According to the victim, a feud between the victim and his brother allegedly stemmed back to 2012 but most recently involved a dispute over their late father’s property. Due to his brother recently threatening his life, the victim said he began wearing a bulletproof vest a few days prior to the shooting.

When describing the incident, the victim said he first noticed his dog barking at something on the property and went to investigate. He said he then saw his brother roughly twenty feet away near some trees with “crazy eyes” and “was pointing a silver semi-automatic handgun at him and fired four rounds.” When the victim fell to the ground, he said he fired into the air to scare his brother off. The victim also possibly heard his dog, who had gotten loose, bite his brother before he fled in a truck described as a “Nisan Titan.” 

According to the victim’s statements, “he waited approximately 30 to 45 minutes before calling 911 and during that time had locked his handgun in a gun cabinet.”

Once the victim was discharged from the hospital, the affidavit claimed he went “to his home where he continues to be uncooperative.” 

That same evening, authorities contacted the victim’s brother who agreed to meet them at his residence. When asked if he knew anyone with a truck similar to what the victim saw, he “could not give a clear or definitive answer.” Deputies did not locate any weapons on his person, and a search warrant executed at his residence did report finding firearms. 

The brother agreed to give a statement at the sheriff’s office. In his interview, the brother denied “knowledge or involvement” in the shooting, and that he hasn’t seen the victim in over a year. He further stated that he doesn’t own firearms and was at home all night. 

Carlton County Sheriff’s Office says this is an ongoing investigation, and no arrests have been made.