DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Police Department will be led by a woman for the first time in its history starting August 1. Mayor Emily Larson has appointed Deputy Chief Laura Marquardt to fill the position Chief Mike Tusken will retire from at the end of July. Marquardt has been with the Duluth Police Department for 27 years. Her most…
DULUTH, Minn. – A Duluth man is dead after slamming into construction equipment on the Blatnik Bridge Friday. The Minnesota State Patrol says Todd Tikka, 55, lost control of his SUV while driving across the bridge to Duluth when he overcorrected and struck the median wall before striking the equipment on the right-hand shoulder. Officials say he was not wearing…
DULUTH, Minn. — A 17-year-old male is accused of pulling a handgun during what was supposed to be a sale transaction of a phone, according to the Duluth Police Department. The incident happened around 3:50 p.m. Saturday on the 100 block of 131st Avenue West in Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood. When officers arrived, the reporting party said he was…
DULUTH, Minn. – With hot weather expected the next several days, beaches in the Northland should be busy. There could be additional dangers than just the colder water temperatures along the North Shore. Earlier this week the Minnesota Department of Health placed advisories to not enter the waters of Lake Superior at Agate Bay Beach in Two Harbors and Durfee Creek…
DULUTH, Minn. — A 22-year-old has been arrested in connection with a shooting, according to Duluth police. The DPD says officers were called out to a hospital just after 2 a.m. on Thursday for a 33-year-old man who came in with a gunshot wound. After officers did some interviews, the investigation led them, the Violent Crimes Unit, and the Lake…
UPDATE (July 13, 4 p.m.) — The 16 year-old juvenile boy responsible for a shooting in Cloquet has been charged. According to the Carlton County Attorney’s Office, the boy has been charged with multiple felony crimes, including second degree assault. ORIGINAL POST: CLOQUET, Minn. — A juvenile boy is in custody after Cloquet police say he was responsible for a…
DULUTH, Minn. — In the first half of 2022, Duluth has seen 22 incidents involving guns where police were called out, and the Duluth police chief is concerned with how much higher the numbers could get if the trajectory continues. This figure and the rest of the statistics for this story, are not including suicides. “When we have legal guns…
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – After nearly dying on the water, a lifelong boater in Hennepin County is now behind a push to prevent what happened to him from happening to others. Jack Doty had hypothermia back in April after he fell off his boat and spent an hour in the cold water of Lake Minnetonka; a near death experience that the 47-year-old…
DULUTH, Minn. – The City of Duluth has announced when and where two public meetings are taking place this month as part of the Chief of Police hiring process. The first will be on July 20 at the Harrison Community Center starting at 5. The second will be on July 26 at the Portman Community Center starting at noon. Each meeting…
DULUTH, Minn.–Two 17-year-old boys were arrested on Wednesday for illegally possessing handguns, one of which had been stolen from Superior, according to Duluth police. The DPD were called out to a disturbance involving teens armed with guns on the 800-block of East Upham Road, and found the teens near Baylis Street and Wildwood Drive. The officers patted down the pair…
DULUTH, Minn. — A 65-year-old woman is recovering after she was attacked in the DECC ramp on Monday, according to Duluth police. The DPD says officers were called out to the scene just after 6:30 p.m. where they found the victim, who said she was assaulted. An officer later caught up to the 37-year-old male suspect at the Downtown Transit…
DULUTH, Minn. – With the Fourth of July right around the corner, fireworks are taking flight. But before you light that match, you better know the rules. In Minnesota, firecrackers are illegal. Residents can, however, use non-explosives like sparklers and ground snakes. “Minnesota has one of the most restrictive fireworks laws and Wisconsin is not so strict,” says Sergeant Kelly Greenwalt…
UPDATE (4 p.m. June 29) – The father of the girl who was struck by the car has reached out to Fox 21 to provide an update. Steven Downs says 6-year-old Novalee suffered a broken collar bone and skull fracture as part of her injuries. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the family cover medical…
DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth Police Department is sharing new details about an incident involving a driver in the middle of Monday’s Roe v. Wade protest downtown. The DPD estimates that up to 500 people were at the pro-choice march, and kept to the sidewalks until an hour later, when demonstrators starting walking on certain streets downtown. Then as protesters…
The shooting scene in Canal Park Wednesday night. DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth Police Department is investigating a shooting in Canal Park that injured one man. The call for help came in around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday for a shooting outside between Green Mill and Adventure Zone on the 300 block of South Lake Avenue. “Upon arrival, officers located an individual…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate bargainers announced a bipartisan framework Sunday responding to last month’s mass shootings, a noteworthy though limited breakthrough offering modest gun curbs and bolstered efforts to improve school safety and mental health programs. The proposal falls far short of tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats. Even so, the accord was embraced by…
DULUTH, Minn. — One day after announcing his retirement from the Duluth Police Department, Chief Mike Tusken stopped by the morning show to talk to Dan Hanger about his 30 years with the department. Tusken reminisced about his early days on the job as a patrol officer, his support from his wife, Kathy, over the years, and about his next…
DULUTH, Minn.– Since 1992, Chief Mike Tusken has served in the city’s police department. But his time is coming to an end as the Duluth Police Department announced on Wednesday that Tusken is retiring. For the last 6 years, Chief Tusken has worked as Police Chief to bring the community together. His driving force, the love for Duluth and its…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Transportation has set up a temporary pedestrian demonstration project along London Road. These pedestrian crossings are put in to demonstrate how people can cross the street easier, feel safer, and slow traffic. Part of a bigger project set for 2025, these temporary crossings show what permanent enhancements will look like. They are set…
LAKE VERMILION, Minn. — A father boating with his adult son on Lake Vermilion on Sunday suffered from a severe hand injury as he fell out of his boat. According to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, the father’s hat blew off of his head, and as he tried to grab it he bumped the boat’s motor, causing it to…
Photo: Tierra Hayes/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A shooting near a Tennessee nightclub early Sunday led to three deaths and 14 people suffering gunshot wounds and other injuries, police said. Fourteen people were hit by gunfire and three were hit by vehicles while trying to flee the scene, according to Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy….
DULUTH, Minn.- Enough is enough – that was the message from protestors near Representative Pete Stauber’s (R MN-08) office in Duluth Friday, sporting the color orange for Wear Orange, or National Gun Violence Awareness Day. They join the growing calls for gun reform across the nation. Signs protestors waved included “protect kids, not guns” and quotes from the parents of…
DULUTH, Minn. – How would emergency responders react if an airplane struck a piece of construction equipment at Duluth International Airport, injuring dozens of people? That what an exercise held Thursday found out. The Duluth International Airport has never experienced a large-scale disaster like the one they simulated Thursday, but it’s necessary to simulate one to meet an FAA requirement. The…
Members of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office stopped by the FOX 21 morning show Thursday to talk to Dan Hanger about an upcoming “Jail Job Fair” happening Monday, June 6 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Government Center’s main atrium. Stacey Minter, lieutenant of jail operations, says jailers can start at an hourly wage between $21.34 and $23.07….
CLOQUET, Minn. – A Cloquet man has been found guilty on all eight counts for murdering his pregnant girlfriend and her 20-month-old son. Sheldon Thompson, 35, will get a mandatory sentence of life without release for the first-degree premediated murder conviction, according to the Carlton County Attorney’s Office. It was in 2020 when Thompson killed Jackie Defoe, 27, her unborn…
TOWN OF MERCER, Wis. – A 39-year-old woman from Mendota, Illinois is dead after the UTV she was operating lost control and rolled into the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in the Town of Mercer. The Iron County Sheriff’s Office said the accident happened on Popko Circle West around 5:20 p.m. Sunday. Officials said there were six people on the UTV when…
TAFT, Okla. (AP) – Authorities say one person was killed and seven were injured in a shooting early Sunday at an outdoor festival in eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that two juveniles were among those shot at the Memorial Day event near Taft, about 10 miles southeast of Tulsa. The agency reports that…
Photo: Hibbing Police Department Facebook Page HIBBING, Minn.- Officials with the Hibbing Police Department plan to take a volunteer team Thursday to the Kabetogama area, as the floodwaters continue to claim more homes. According to the National Weather Service, the flooding in the Rainy River Basin is historic, and already exceeded the records set in 2014. It could break all-time…
FILE – Law enforcement personnel stand outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. When the gunman arrived at the school, he hopped its fence and easily entered through an unlocked back door, police said. He holed himself up in a fourth-grade classroom where he killed the children and teachers. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File) STEFANIE…
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis City Council has approved $1.2 million in legal settlements with two people injured by police during protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers in 2020. Minnesota Public Radio reports that settlements with St. Paul resident Virgil Lee Jackson Jr. and Nashville freelance photographer Linda Tirado mean the city has agreed to…
DULUTH, Minn.- Investigators with the Duluth Police Department Friday determined the alleged school threat made by a Lincoln Park Middle School student was a written list of names several months old. According to a Department spokesperson, after the recent tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, students who knew about the list told the staff. Both Police and School Administration were…
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn.- The Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office asked that International Falls residents prepare to evacuate, as historic flooding of Rainy Lake forced the closure of County Road 135 and Town Road 225 Friday. According to an alert from the Minnesota Integrated Alert and Warning System or IPAWS shared on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page, County Road 135 closed at…
A family pays their respects next to crosses bearing the names of Tuesday’s shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) UVALDE, Texas (AP) — It was 11:28 a.m. when the Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the low-slung Texas school and the driver jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle….
DULUTH, Minn. — Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken released a statement (see below) Friday afternoon involving school safety after a threat was made by a student toward the Lincoln Park Middle School and on the same week of a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The Duluth Police Department share the concerns of our community regarding the…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s top legislative Republican says he is open to the idea of arming teachers following the latest school shooting in Texas, while he dismissed as “disingenuous” an offer from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to find common ground. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told The Associated Press on Thursday that finding ways to better protect schools, including with…
DULUTH, Minn.- A threat allegedly made by a student at Lincoln Park Middle School Thursday is under investigation by Duluth Police, but has been deemed not credible. According to a spokesperson with the Department, the threat was reported to a School Resource Officer, and the Police Department received concern from community members via social media. Investigators do not believe it…
DULUTH, Minn.- As many get ready to break out the grills and coolers this Memorial Day weekend, it comes in the shadow of one of the deadliest years on record for Minnesota roads last year. So officials are making sure everyone has a safe holiday, behind the wheel and at home. Memorial Day weekend kicks off the 100 most traveled…
BAYFIELD COUNTY, Wis. — The Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a missing woman with dementia. Joyce Lenz is 81-years-old and was last seen on Tuesday wearing black pants and possibly a denim jacket and pink sweatshirt. She was spotted around 5 p.m. that evening walking away from her house. Conflicting reports say she may have been on South…
SUPERIOR, Wis. — A man was brought to jail after Superior Police say he shot a gun several times in an alley behind the Palace Bar on Tower Avenue. The call about a man firing shots into the air came in after 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. When Superior police officers arrived on-scene, they found the suspect in the Cobblestone…
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team. “Go in there! Go in…
DULUTH, MN – This week is National Safe Boating Week and a good time to make sure your boat is ready before heading out on the water. While some necessary equipment may be different for those out on Lake Superior compared to an inland lake or on a river such as navigation tools and lights, some equipment will be similar…
DULUTH, Minn. — Recently, fire departments have had difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. What used to be hundreds of applicants might now only be dozens. But over the next two weeks, the Duluth Fire Department is training the largest class of firefighters they’ve had in years. “Historically, when I got hired 12 years ago, there was 300 people on the…
ST. LOUIS CO., Minn. — An inmate who had escaped from NERCC on Wednesday morning, is now in custody according to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. Kris Richard Severin, 42, made his way out of the facility around 9 a.m. He was being held there for violating a harassment order. On Thursday, May 19th, Saint Louis County Deputies investigated…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order on Thursday that activated the state’s National Guard troops to head up to Northeastern Minnesota to help respond to the floodwaters rising in communities. A peacetime emergency was also declared. “As severe weather pushes flooding beyond historic highs, I’m incredibly grateful that the members of our National Guard…
DULUTH, Minn. – St. Louis County officials are continuing to monitor the worst flooding some parts have not seen since 2014. A combination of above average spring rainfall and a late snowpack melt has led to water covering roads, buildings, and resorts along Kabetogama Lake, Crane Lake, Island Lake and the Cloquet River reservoir. “Sandbagging continues up in Kabetogama, and also…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Superior’s top cop is calling for the Palace Bar to lose its liquor and amusement device licenses after a shooting in March and after more than 150 calls for police services since January of 2021. Superior Police Chief Nicholas Alexander said beyond the recent shooting there are ongoing calls of violence at the Palace Bar on the…
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul made a visit in Superior Wednesday to talk about the importance of properly prosecuting sexual assault cases. He spoke to around of dozen prosecutors taking part in training from state experts on this subject, learning about how to help a victim going through trauma, building a proper case, and what information can be…
DULUTH, Minn. – The response to recent flooding by emergency management units is the latest example of how they can come together to help the public stay safe. That was one of the topics on the minds of the roughly 300 people attending the annual Under One Roof conference at the DECC this week. For the past decade, this conference has…
DULUTH, Minn. – This week is National Police Week, used to remember those who died while in the line of duty. For Duluth, this means an annual luncheon hosted by the St. Louis County Law Enforcement Chaplaincy. With one year not taking place due to COVID, this was their 33rd event. The first took place in 1990 following the death of…
DULUTH, Minn. – Dozens of women who are members of law enforcement agencies from across Minnesota are in Duluth this week for the Minnesota Association of Women Police’s annual conference. The event is a chance to learn the latest in department leadership and tactical mobility through training, seminars, and speakers. President of the Minnesota Association of Women Police Serena Frazier says…
