GRASSTON, Minn. — The Pine County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing teen. 15-year-old Sebastion Wolberson-O’Hara was last seen riding his bike this past Friday evening in Grasston where he lives. Investigators believe he might be trying to travel down to the Twin Cities. The teen doesn’t have a cellphone. It’s also unknown what…
Greenwood Fire/USDA Forest Service DULUTH, Minn. – One year ago, Aug. 15, 2021, lighting sparked the massive Greenwood Wildfire in northern Minnesota that would burn for months. The abnormally dry conditions fueled the flames, scorched nearly 30,000 acres of land and destroyed dozens of cabins and outbuildings. Nobody was hurt or killed during the weeks-long firefight and evacuations, which included…
DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Fire Department issued a Rip Current Warning for Park Point beaches Monday, which will last until 10 a.m. Tuesday. “This warning means that wind and wave conditions can support rip currents,” according to Assistant Chief Dennis Edwards. “Rip currents are life-threatening to anyone entering the water. Stay out of the water regardless of your swimming…
(FOX 9) – One day after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he will keep reinforcements in Minneapolis indefinitely to help curb violent crime, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) released its 2021 Uniform Crime Report Friday, which showed a 21.6% increase in violent crime in the state in 2021. The report offers an annual summary of crime data submitted by law…
(from left to right) Jacqueline Primeau, St. Louis County Attorney Kimberly Maki, Kristyn OyeDULUTH, Minn. – St. Louis County’s Attorney’s Office has two new members. Kirstyn Oye and Jacqueline Primeau were sworn in by County Attorney Kimberly Maki during a ceremony Thursday. Oye will fill the position made vacant by Jessica Fralich, who left to become a judicial referee for the…
TWIN PORTS, Minn. — The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a water emergency on Lake Superior on Tuesday night. “At approximately 11 p.m. we were paged out to a water emergency in the Superior entry. A boat ran into some rocks, was taking on water, and sinking,” Carter Nelson, Sergeant with the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, said….
DULUTH, Minn. – After a tip to FOX 21’s Dan Hanger, we’ve learned a Duluth man was randomly struck by an apparent BB gun while leaving the fireworks show at Bayfront Park last month. Police Information Officer Mattie Hjelseth confirmed Tuesday that officers responded to the 300 block of West 4th Street around 11:30 p.m. July 8 in the Central…
UPDATE (August 8, 5;15 p.m.) — The man who went missing Sunday morning near Madeline Island has been found dead. La Pointe Police say the 41 year-old, Curtis Wilmer of Eau Claire jumped off one of the Eagles Nest cliffs inside the Big Bay State Park Sunday afternoon. It was his second jump into Lake Superior for the day, but he…
DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth Fire Department has put a red flag warning in place to warn swimmers of the high risk of rip currents on Sunday at Park Point beaches. The warning lasts until 10 a.m. Monday. The fire department urges people to stay out of the water, no matter how strong of a swimmer someone may be. Officials…
DULUTH, Minn. — A condemned house caught fire in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Tuesday, and city officials tell FOX21 it seems suspicious. It happened around 3:49 p.m. at 111 Park Avenue and police and fire crews were at the scene within two minutes, according to a press release. A firefighter on-scene said he wasn’t sure if anyone was inside…
UPDATE (August 2, 12:00 p.m.)- A 53 year-old man from Virginia was charged after a burglary and barricade situation occurred at a home in Virginia on Friday, according to the Virginia Police Department. Mark Williams, who did not have permission to be in the home and injured officers after he barricaded himself in was officially charged Monday. Officials say he…
FLEMING, Minn. — A man is dead in Aitkin County, and his own son is accused of the crime, according to authorities. The Sheriff’s Office said the body of Daniel Bzdok, 62, of Buffalo, Minnesota was found in his cabin in Fleming Township Wednesday during a welfare check by deputies. Bzdok had a gunshot wound to the back of the…
DULUTH, Minn. — Police and community leaders say they’re concerned about the rise in gun violence in Duluth, and teens are contributing. This summer, teens were involved in a shooting in Canal Park, a homicide near Endion Park, and just a few days ago, an armed robbery at a meetup to sell a phone. The police chief, the Duluth Public…
DULUTH, Minn. – With Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken set to retire next week, the process to finding his replacement is ongoing. That includes hosting community meetings to give the public a space to share their thoughts. Around a dozen people took part in the second of these meetings at Portman Community Center July 26. That is more than who…
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…
