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State report upholds officers' action

MORRISON COUNTY HOSTAGE INCIDENT

By RENEE RICHARDSON

Senior Reporter

Law enforcement officers who discharged their weapons killing Gordon Wheeler Sr. after he took hostages at the Morrison County Courthouse in June acted appropriately, the Minnesota attorney general's office said Friday.

William Klumpp Jr., assistant attorney general, released his findings in a seven-page report that provides greater detail into the events of June 24.

"At no time during the approximately 21-minute incident did Mr. Wheeler do anything to indicate he was other than serious about shooting one or more of the individuals present," Klumpp reported. "At no time did Mr. Wheeler comply with any of the demands of law enforcement that would have resulted in a peaceable conclusion to the incident."

On June 24, Wheeler entered the Morrison County Board meeting. At the meeting's conclusion, Wheeler pulled out a loaded 9 mm pistol and threatened to shoot county officials. He had one round in the pistol's chamber, four rounds in the gun's magazine and his finger was on the trigger of a gun that was ready to fire.

Wheeler cocked the pistol's hammer immediately after producing it.

Looking in from the audience, this is the view of the Morrison County Board room at the Morrison County Government Center in Little Falls. During the June 24 hostage/shooting incident, county officials at the table were commissioners Duane Johnson (starting with the second chair to the left), Jeff Schilling, Tom Wenzel and county chair Gene Young; and Connie Waytashek, administrative assistant, Brian J. Middendorf, county attorney, and Tim Houle, former county administrator. Gordon Wheeler Sr. was shot near the flags on the right.

"I remember that cocking of the hammer," said Tim Houle, Crow Wing County admini-strator, as he read through the pages of the report in his Brainerd office late Friday afternoon. Houle was Morrison County's administrator on that fateful day.

"I still consider that to be a sad day, a tragic day, anytime there is a loss of human life and there was a loss," Houle said. " I knew Gordon. I did not dislike Gordon. He never treated me with disrespect. He never swore at me. He never raised his voice to me. That makes the events of that day all that much more difficult to understand."

Houle first saw the gun when Wheeler, who was walking up to the board table from the back of the room, was about 10 feet away. Houle's first thought was that things could be over very quickly. Wheeler seemed serious and purposeful, Houle said.

Houle asked Wheeler what he wanted the officials to do. Wheeler moved behind the board table standing behind Houle and county attorney Brian Middendorf. Wheeler told officials he was going to ask them questions and shoot anyone who lied.

The first and only question Wheeler asked was if there was corruption in Morrison County. Commissioner Tom Wenzel said no comment.

"I believed at that time that Commissioner Wenzel's life was in immediate danger," Houle said.

Law enforcement could be seen outside the board room's glass windows and in the doorway and officers could see and hear what was going on inside the room. Houle said just when a moment seemed to escalate, officers would say or do something that was just enough to distract Wheeler for a moment, de-escalating the pressure situation. Board Chairman Gene Young engaged Wheeler in conversation, which Houle also believed helped.

"Particular concern was expressed by the county officials present and the law enforcement officers able to view what was happening in the board room for the safety of County Administrator Houle and Commissioner Wenzel, with whom Mr. Wheeler seemed to be particularly upset," the attorney general's office reported.

Wheeler pointed his pistol at the back of Houle's head or neck multiple times.

"I think I know how the rabbit feels when the fox is two steps behind and gaining," Houle said.

During the incident Wheeler moved from standing behind Houle and the county attorney to taking a nearby seat at the table in a chair vacated when Houle's assistant was allowed to leave the room.

From officer accounts and a videotape record of the meeting, the attorney general's office reported Wheeler had become more agitated and active, which led to the officer's decision to enter the board room. Wheeler was still sitting at the table. Morrison County Sheriff Lt. Bruce Motes told Wheeler to put the gun down. Wheeler told Motes to get out as he was part of the problem. Motes said it wasn't a negotiation and told Wheeler again to put the gun down. Wheeler said no.

"It felt like they stormed into the room," Houle said. "But they didn't. They walked into the room in single file."

The hostages spread away from Wheeler as the officers walked in the room telling the hostages to get down and get out.

"They didn't need to tell us twice," Houle said. "But they were continuously telling us to get down and get out. Gordon stayed stationary and we moved - away from him. We didn't run out of the room. The county attorney and I got down on the floor and we're crawling around the backside of the table. The board members were standing and when the shooting starts then there is running, but they were moving out of the room in a very orderly fashion."

When officers yelled for the hostages to get down, Young stood up and Wheeler crouched down. Houle said Young, who had the best rapport with Wheeler, told the gunman it didn't have to end this way. Wheeler in return told Young he should get out of the way as he was in the line of fire.

Wheeler ducked down behind the table and raised his pistol to a firing position before shots were fired, the attorney general's office reported. Houle and Middendorf made it as far as the feet of a law enforcement officer in the room when the shooting started.

At the beginning of the incident, Houle said the time seemed to stretch to an eternity. At the end, things seemed to be moving much faster than they actually were. The gunfire didn't sound loud at the time, Houle said.

After watching the videotape, Houle said things were much more orderly than they seemed at the end. When the shooting starts Houle and Middendorf drop to the floor. After the shooting stopped, Houle said an officer tapped him, telling him to get out of the room.

"It's the best outcome I think we could have hoped for in a range of much worse alternatives," Houle said. "It's still a tragedy. I wish it didn't have to end that way."

Houle said he doesn't know why but he felt compelled to go back to the board room that night after investigators were done with their work. So he stood there about 11 p.m. feeling it was important to be there. Now he is past replaying the tape of the incident over and over in his mind and can remember the day clearly, but not be haunted by it.

"I stayed much calmer that I actually felt," Houle said.

In the aftermath, Houle said: "I think you value each day in a different way. I value the people, my loved ones, more."

If he had died that day, Houle said he would have hated to have been used as a reason to close public access to government.

"I still do not believe we should turn the public square into a bunker," he said. "If we did that, then that would be the greatest tragedy that was suffered on that day. No one person should be able to derail our democracy. No one person should be able to close the public square from free and easy access - open debate about public policy issues."

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.

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