Star Tribune
Both men now ID’d who were killed by 1 days’ gunfire tied to homeless encampments
The identities have now been released of both men who were shot to death during a one-day spate of gunfire tied to homeless encampments, while a suspect in the shootings remains jailed.
Robert Milton Brown, 39, of Minneapolis, was shot in the head Wednesday and died at the scene in the 2500 block of S. 15th Avenue, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday.
Police said Brown was standing by a garage in an alley at 4:15 p.m. when a group of people passed by. One person in the group approached Brown and shot him.
About 12 hours earlier, Roland Scott Littleowl, 20, died after being shot in the head in an alley in the 2500 block of 17th Avenue S. The shooting also left a man in his 30s wounded, police said.
In a third incident Wednesday, a man suffered a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound at 7:20 p.m. in the 2300 block of S. 17th Avenue S. The suspect was arrested 15 minutes later near E. 26th Street and 17th Avenue S., according to police.
The alleged shooter remains jailed with charges pending. Police have not released his identity.
On Thursday, Mayor Jacob Frey Frey vowed to accelerate the destruction of the encampments and called out the fentanyl crisis as a major factor.
Also on Thursday, the City Council approved measures related to housing and homelessness: a new set of reporting requirements intended to add transparency to camp removals, including where individuals land after being dispersed; a $1.5 million rehabilitation grant to help a downtown shelter make needed repairs; and an extension of the pre-eviction notification period for renters from 14 days to 30 days.
BISMARCK, N.D. — The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is scheduled to change his not-guilty plea on Friday in the crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy last year.
Ian Cramer, 43, was charged with homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses in the Dec. 6, 2023, pursuit and crash that killed Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin, 53.
Cramer was initially charged with manslaughter, later upgraded to the homicide offense, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. In April, Cramer pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A notice filed Wednesday indicated his change of plea, but court filings didn’t provide details.
Cramer’s father, Kevin Cramer, a Republican running for his second Senate term, has said his son ”suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”
Before the crash, Ian Cramer’s mother had taken him to a hospital because of mental health concerns. When she stepped out of the vehicle, Ian Cramer crawled into the driver’s seat and sped in reverse, smashing through a closed garage door to the ambulance bay and fleeing the hospital, Bismarck police said.
He later fled again when a deputy confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Bismarck, and hit speeds over 100 mph (160 kph), continuing even after a spiked device flattened two tires, according to court documents.
More spikes were set up, and Cramer swerved and then crashed head-on into Martin’s patrol vehicle, launching the deputy about 100 feet (30 meters), authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Star Tribune
Secret Service report details communication failures preceding July assassination attempt on Trump
The Secret Service’s investigation is one of numerous inquiries, including by Congress and a watchdog probe by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general office.
Rowe has said the July shooting and Sunday’s episode, in which 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after Secret Service agents detected a rifle poking through shrubbery lining the West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course where Trump was playing, underscore the need for a paradigm shift in how the agency protects public officials.
Yellow Medicine County deputies said they arrived at Irving Willander’s house on Wednesday.
Irving Willander said he had been away from his home for most of Saturday, but when he returned at 8 p.m., he found his door open, with a broken windowpane, with writing on it in yellow marker that said, “sorry I.W.,” his initials.
Deputies showed him a picture of a semi-automatic Remington Model 1100 shotgun seized from Willander after the shootout. Irving Willander recognized the gun was his, and showed deputies where he had kept it before it was taken.
The standoff began after Willander’s mother told a dispatcher that her son was acting paranoid, and that he was under the influence of drugs, Friday’s criminal complaint said.
