Star Tribune
Duluth man got gun permit 2 months before allegedly killing his family
DULUTH – A man who police say killed his family before shooting himself last week was approved for a gun permit in September, two months after he was hospitalized following an incident where he had held a knife to his wife’s throat.
Anthony Nephew, 46, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound alongside his wife, Kathryn Ramsland, 45, and son Oliver Nephew, 7, at the family’s house at 4401 West Sixth Street, across from Denfeld High School. He is suspected of first killing his ex-wife, Erin Abramson, 47, and their son Jacob Nephew, 15, who were found dead at their home on Tacony Street, less than a mile away.
Nephew applied for and received a gun permit on Sept. 9, according to a search warrant filed in St. Louis County. The filing, alongside incident reports, indicate Nephew had mounting concerns about the country’s political future.
Ramsland called local authorities on July 3 to report that Anthony Nephew had attacked her and was suicidal. He was cooperative when officers arrived and admitted to holding a knife to his wife’s neck. He told a police officer that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the past five years and had been going downhill. “He had a med change a few days ago and since then voices have been telling him [President Donald] Trump is going to take over the world and he needs to kill his family to protect them,” according to an incident report.
Nephew said at the time that he believed Russians had control of his mind since he was 6 years old. He said that if Trump took over control, to “put a bullet in his head and the head of his families.” Nephew spent the night at Aspirus St. Luke’s hospital, according to the search warrant.
Nephew had spoken openly, both on Facebook and in a column in the Duluth News Tribune, about mental health struggles.
On Nov. 7, Duluth police responded to a welfare check at Abramson’s home after she didn’t show up for work. A coworker with the city of Superior said this was out of character and that Abramson had recently said her ex-husband had been “going off the deep end,” according to the search warrant. It was then that officers found her and their son dead.
Anthony Nephew was found dead alongside Ramsland and their son Oliver in the family’s primary bedroom.
Star Tribune
E. coli infections traced back to Red Cow restaurants and Hen House Eatery in Minnesota
Ten cases of E. coli have been identified from customers who ate hamburgers at several locations of the Red Cow restaurant chain and at Hen House Eatery in downtown Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Health announced Friday.
The ground beef product connected to those infections was also distributed to other unidentified establishments, according to the Health Department. Additional cases from other locations could be identified, and other potential cases were already under investigation.
The confirmed cases involve meal dates from Oct. 31 through Nov. 7, and illness onset dates from Nov. 4 through Nov. 9, according to the department. Those affected range in age from 9 to 70 years, and two of them have been hospitalized.
Red Cow and Hen House Eatery owners are fully cooperating with the investigation and have already made product changes to prevent further illness, the department said. Red Cow has a total of six locations in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Wayzata and Rochester.
Symptoms of E. coli typically include stomach cramps and diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Illness can set in anywhere from one to eight days after exposure. About 5% of cases can lead to severe complications such as acute kidney failure.
Star Tribune
St. Paul police release video of officers shooting murder suspect who appeared to point gun
St. Paul police released footage Friday of the moment officers converged up on and shot a man wanted for murdering his pregnant ex-wife after he appeared to point a gun at them.
The police department’s body worn and dash camera footage shows officers Matthew Foy and Eric Jaworski speed towards Stowers in their squad car at around 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 9. Stowers, 36, was wanted for allegedly killing his pregnant ex-wife, Damara Alexis Stowers, 35, who was found dead in her North End apartment on Oct. 19. An anonymous tipster said Stowers was on a bike at a laundromat in the West Seventh neighborhood that day, and the caller confirmed the bicyclist was Stowers as officers waited to verify his identity.
Foy’s engine roared as they sped through the 1100 block of West Seventh Street towards Stowers, stopping about 30 yards from him. That’s when investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension say Stowers raised a gun at police. A gun was found near the spot outside where he was shot, the agency said.
Jaworski shot five times through Foy’s front windshield as they screeched to a stop, shattering glass with bullets that appeared to strike Stowers. Foy exited the car moments afterwards, shooting four times towards Stowers before reporting that shots were fired.
Stowers turned and ran before Jaworski fire a fifth shot, sending Stowers to the ground. The video then showed four officers approach Stowers with their guns drawn.
“What the [expletive] is going on?” a witness standing yards from Stowers said as police converged on the scene. Jaworski yelled at Stowers to stay still as they approached.
Stowers was taken to Regions Hospital but died some time later. More than six officers were placed on administrative leave, standard procedure for police shootings investigated by the BCA. No other injuries from the shooting.
“We are committed to the sanctity of the independent investigation; we are also committed to the transparency of our actions. That’s why we are releasing the body-worn camera (BWC) and in car camera footage from this incident. No one wants apprehensions to result in the use of force of any kind. Not using force is always our goal—and is the outcome of the majority of our officers’ interactions.” said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry. “We grieve with the families impacted, our community, and our officers. We hope that with working together as a community, we can prevent these outcomes in the future.”
In the first case of its kind in Minnesota, the state is suing the Zaza Cannabis Dispensary after finding products in its stores that contained more than 70 times the legal limit of THC.
The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is seeking destruction of the products with illegal amounts of THC, the intoxicating substance in marijuana.
The lawsuits filed in Hennepin and Ramsey county courts followed a September inspection of Zaza that was prompted in part by complaints from the public about the potency of the stores’ products.
State inspectors, the lawsuits said, caught employees smuggling illicit products out the back door during the inspections.
Zaza operates stores in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Employees answering the phone at those locations said they could not comment on the lawsuits.
“The Office of Cannabis Management takes seriously its responsibility to protect the health and safety of Minnesotans and ensure compliance within the hemp-derived cannabinoid marketplace,” said Josh Collins, a spokesman for OCM, said in a statement.
The action marks the first time that the state agency has sued a cannabis retailer.
Minnesota legalized hemp-derived THC products in 2019, including low-potency forms of the drug, but kept more intoxicating higher-potency products illegal, including “vape pens” and hemp flower that includes more than 0.3% of any form of THC, the lawsuit says.
E. coli infections traced back to Red Cow restaurants and Hen House Eatery in Minnesota
St. Paul police release video of officers shooting murder suspect who appeared to point gun
St. Paul nonprofit stunned after freshly planted trees destroyed
E. coli infections traced back to Red Cow restaurants and Hen House Eatery in Minnesota
St. Paul police release video of officers shooting murder suspect who appeared to point gun