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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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NO HOSTAGES HURT, SUSPECT IS KILLED Wheeler Sr.'s history of disputes culminates with his death in Little Falls Staff Writer LITTLE FALLS - For about 20 minutes Tuesday morning, Morrison County commissioners and several others were held at gunpoint by a 60-year-old Little Falls gunman who has feuded with the county for the past several years.
Gordon Kenneth Wheeler Sr., who has fought with Morrison County officials several times and faced criminal charges concerning his adult-oriented businesses in the county, brandished a gun and held about 10 people hostage at about 10 a.m. during the Morrison County Board's regular meeting at the Morrison County Government Center in downtown Little Falls.
The hostage standoff ended with Wheeler being shot and fatally injured by law enforcement officers. No one - not anyone in the board room or anywhere else in the government center - was injured.
"We're all fine and everybody got out of there OK," Morrison County Commissioner Tom Wenzel said.
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Morrison County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Tom Ploof briefed reporters early Tuesday afternoon on events that occurred inside the Morrison County Government Center in Little Falls. A suspect, Gordon Wheeler Sr., was killed Tuesday morning by law enforcement officials after taking Morrison County officials hostage at gunpoint during a county board meeting. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Wheeler was the owner of several Morrison County businesses, including the Camp Bar, Krazy Rabbit, Lookin' Fine Smut and Porno. He argued with the county board in regard to zoning regulations for adult-use businesses and over his family's repeated requests to renew a liquor license. In 2006, he was convicted of felony charges relating to promoting prostitution at the Camp Bar.
Three people attending the county board meeting Tuesday were able to leave the room, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Assistant Superintendent Dave Bjerga said at a news conference. One person went to the sheriff's department, which also is located in the government center, to alert the sheriff about the gunman.
Immediately, at about 10:20 a.m., law enforcement officers started to evacuate all employees and civilians from the government center while at least three officers - State Patrol Trooper Kaj Meinhardt, Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel and Morrison County Sheriff's Lt. Bruce Mose - responded directly to the board room to confront the gunman.
During the confrontation, Wheeler was shot and fatally wounded by officers. Meinhardt, Wetzel and Mose all fired their weapons.
Bjerga wouldn't comment about what specifically occurred during the confrontation with Wheeler.
Recounting information he learned from witnesses, Todd Kosovich, Morrison County senior prosecutor, said law enforcement officers told Wheeler "to drop the gun and he did not."
Wheeler later died at St. Gabriel's Hospital. An autopsy is scheduled with the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.
Bjerga declined to discuss Wheeler's possible motives for taking a gun to the county board meeting, how many weapons Wheeler may have possessed or how many shots were fired by whom. Bjerga said Wheeler had no issues on the county commission's agenda Tuesday.
Bjerga said government workers and law enforcement officers had no warning of Wheeler's intentions and the BCA was investigating whether he went to the meeting alone.
"It's been a tough day for a lot of folks in this community," Bjerga said.
Reached by phone Tuesday night, Wenzel declined to comment on the hostage situation because it was under investigation. Phone calls to commissioners Gene Young, Jeff Schilling, Don Meyer and Duane Johnson weren't returned Tuesday night.
The Morrison County Government Center was evacuated and closed Tuesday following the hostage incident and shooting of Wheeler.
First Avenue Southeast on the south side of the government complex was barricaded from Second to Fourth streets, with officers armed with assault weapons stationed at intersections and the entrances to the government building.
Tactical team snipers were positioned on the roof of the government building for about two hours and officers on the street stopped several vehicles outside the building to question the drivers. Bjerga declined to comment on why the snipers were in place following the shooting but said no other arrests were made in connection with the hostage situation.
Officers also asked bystanders watching from across the street to leave the area. One man who was walking toward the government center was asked by officers what he was doing in the area. When he said he was going to work at the government center, a Little Falls police officer told him he had the day off and explained the situation.
Law enforcement officials from the Little Falls Police Department, the Morrison County Sheriff's Department, the Randall Police Department, the State Patrol, the BCA and the DNR were stationed most of Tuesday afternoon throughout the government center parking lot or patrolling the streets surrounding the building. Later in the afternoon, county commissioners and other county staffers were escorted out of the building by officers and given rides home.
Little Falls Mayor Cathy VanRisseghem said she received several calls from concerned community members just after the shooting. She spent about an hour at the government center fielding phone calls and answering questions.
"In a small community, when things like this happen, it hits people very hard," VanRisseghem said. "There are a lot of family and friends of people who work in there that are concerned about what's going on."
Little Falls Police Chief Mike Pender said his officers train for such incidents but never expect them.
"It's still a real shock, but it's something you prepare for and we'll deal with it," Pender said.
About 1 p.m., Morrison County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Tom Ploof conducted a brief news conference stating that a gunman had taken hostages in the Morrison County Board room at the government center and that the suspect had been shot and wounded. Later, it was learned that he died in the hospital.
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Law enforcement officers took positions Tuesday afternoon on the roof of the Morrison County Government Center following an incident in which a Little Falls man armed with a gun took about 10 people hostage in the government center. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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At 4:30 p.m. Bjerga conducted a follow-up news conference and released additional details, including identifying those law enforcement officers who fired their weapons.
Meinhardt, employed with the State Patrol since 2000, is stationed at the State Patrol's station office at the Little Falls Police Department, Brainerd State Patrol Capt. Mark Jonassen said, and was on patrol when the shooting occurred.
Jonassen declined to comment further, directing questions to the BCA as the lead investigating agency.
Meinhardt and Motes, employed with the sheriff's department since 1980, were placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure, Bjerga and Jonassen said.
Bjerga said it was unclear if Wetzel, as an elected sheriff, would be placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the hostage situation.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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