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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

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Man accused of shooting at man, child

By MATT ERICKSON

Staff Writer

A 22-year-old Cass Lake man arrested following a shooting Thursday in Cass Lake has been charged with attempted murder.

William Earl Morris was arraigned Monday in Cass County District Court on felony charges of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree intentional murder and first-degree assault causing great bodily harm.

William Morris shoots 31-year-old victim three times in the back, prosecutor contends.

Morris is accused of shooting Amos LaDuke, 31, three times in the back while LaDuke was walking with his 5-year-old daughter on Broken Arrow Lane in an area known as Tract 34 just north of Cass Lake.

According to the criminal complaint, LaDuke and his daughter were walking to a relative's house on Broken Arrow Lane when a vehicle with two men drove by, stopped and slowly turned around and drove in the other direction.

About 15 minutes later when LaDuke and his daughter left the residence, the same vehicle, but now with four occupants, including Morris, drove up and abruptly stopped. The criminal complaint said Morris got out of the vehicle, brandished a handgun and started chasing and shooting at LaDuke and his daughter, according to the complaint.

LaDuke picked up his daughter, ran in the opposite direction while screaming at Morris to not shoot his daughter. As LaDuke collapsed a passing motorist parked his vehicle in between LaDuke and Morris, and Morris fled the area on foot. The passerby loaded LaDuke and his daughter into his vehicle and drove them to a Cass Lake hospital.

Morris was arrested a short time later near his home and officers found latex gloves and a hooded sweatshirt in the woods nearby. He is being held in the Cass County Jail on $500,000 bail with no conditions and $250,000 bail with conditions. His next court appearance is at 9 a.m. on March 22.

LaDuke was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth where he is being treated for serious but non life-threatening injuries. His daughter was not injured in the shooting.

Cass County Sheriff Randy Fisher said the motive behind the shooting is unknown and is still under investigation.

Cass County Attorney Christopher Strandlie said there was speculation on the motive but no evidence yet to say for sure what led to the shooting.

Without the passerby helping LaDuke, Strandlie said it was his opinion that the shooting would have resulted in a homicide. He said criminal charges against others in connection with the shooting are possible.

Strandlie also said people were outraged that someone would shoot at a child.

"That's shocking even with the gang activity we see on the reservation," Strandlie said. "There's sort of an unwritten rule. You don't see that."

In 2007 Morris was convicted in Beltrami County of felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and sentenced to 39 months in prison with credit for 235 days already spent in jail. He also was convicted in 2006 on two counts of third-degree burglary.

MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.

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