Star Tribune
Man charged with attempted murder in standoff with police in Oakdale
A man accused of shooting at police Monday night during an hours-long standoff in Oakdale was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and assault.
Devione Leeante Malone, 25, of St. Paul, faces seven charges in Washington County District Court, including two counts of first-degree attempted murder of a police officer, four counts of first-degree assault of a police officer, and one count of illegally possessing a firearm.
Malone, who has a lengthy rap sheet that includes convictions for first-degree arson and assaulting a correctional officer, was being held in the Washington County Jail ahead of his initial court appearance Thursday.
According to the criminal complaint, Oakdale police responded to a 911 call at about 10 p.m. Monday from a a man who said a woman he knew and her toddler granddaughter were in a vehicle with Malone and “needed assistance.” The woman had a no-contact order against Malone.
Officers spotted the vehicle in the 7000 block of N. 10th Street and attempted to surround it in a parking lot, but Malone drove off down Hadley Avenue, according to the charges. Police followed as the car pulled into the driveway of the woman’s house in the 100 block of Greystone Avenue N. in Oakdale.
After Malone exited the car, he fired one shot at a squad car as it turned into the driveway. The bullet hit the car’s front fender and ricocheted into the squad’s passenger-side mirror. After Malone ran inside the house, the woman got her granddaughter out of their car and ran toward the officers, the complaint says. Neither she nor the child were hurt, police said Tuesday.
Officers took cover behind four Oakdale squad cars outside the house. Squad car video footage shows Malone opening a window in the home and firing three more shots. One bullet hit the windshield of a squad car near where an officer was standing, the charges said.
The Washington County SWAT team responded with an armored vehicle and took Malone into custody after he surrendered at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police found no one else inside the home, and recovered a .22-caliber handgun and spent shell casings from inside, charges say.
Police interviewed the woman, who said Malone’s mood had changed earlier in the day and that she “knew she had to get her granddaughter away” from him. She texted her friend, who alerted police.
The woman told officers that Malone had a gun because he carried “all the time and everywhere.” She said that as officers started showing up, Malone told her he was “tired of them following me” and “I’ll die before I go back to prison.”
According to the charges, Malone admitted to police that he carried the .22-caliber handgun, which he was barred from doing because of previous convictions for violent crimes, and said he believed he was going to jail because he had violated the no-contact order. He said he did not recall shooting at police.
The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.
As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.
The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar arrives at WCCO Radio for a debate with Royce White in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 27. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)
Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.
“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.
White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.
“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”
Other buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to create the solid fuel needed for its extensive ballistic missile arsenal, Eveleth said.
In a statement issued immediately after the attack Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted ”missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.”
Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the country’s ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday’s attack.
Iran’s overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles unable to reach Israel, was estimated to be ”over 3,000” by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then-commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, in testimony to the U.S. Senate in 2022. In the time since, Iran has fired hundreds of the missiles in a series of attacks.
There have been no videos or photos posted to social media of missile parts or damage in civilian neighborhoods following the recent attack — suggesting that the Israeli strikes were far more accurate that Iran’s ballistic missile barrages targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-fired missiles during its attack.
However, one factory appeared to have been hit in Shamsabad Industrial City, just south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main gateway to the outside world. Online videos of the damaged building corresponded to an address for a firm known as TIECO, which advertises itself as building advanced machinery used in Iran’s oil and gas industry.
Some take him up on it and fret when he’s not around.
“It is nice to be missed and be part of the school’s culture,” Arzola said. But mostly, he added, he wants kids to know that police aren’t around just for when the bad stuff happens. He’ll hand out his stickers and bracelets, even a trading card bearing his image. Then, they’ll talk about dogs and family.
School resource officer Al Arzola talks to students in his office at John Adams Middle School in Rochester on Oct. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Two months ago, Rochester played host to a three-day training session for new SROs from across the state — an event organized by the Minnesota School Safety Center. On the final day, the 26 officers learned about surveillance challenges at the other school where Arzola works: Dakota Middle School.
It is a beautiful building with a scenic view. There is a lot of glass, too. Arzola, handling the role of instructor and tour guide, took the group outside and noted how one could look straight through the entrance to the large groups that gather inside. There were no curbs in front, either.
“There is nothing stopping any vehicle whatsoever from going through my front doors,” Arzola told the officers. “Law enforcement wasn’t talked to before this building was made. It was kind of like, ‘Here it is. You’re the SRO. Do what you do.’”
He showed them his office, too, which is separate from the main office and near those of other school support staff members. That makes sense, said Jenny Larrive, SRO coordinator for the Minnesota School Safety Center, given than SROs spend more time connecting with youth than on actual law enforcement.
