A shooting near the state Capitol in St. Paul critically injured a man late Tuesday afternoon.

Officers were called just before 5 p.m. to the area of Rice Street and University Avenue on a report of shots fired. They found a man who had been shot in the head, and was unconscious and not breathing, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. St. Paul Fire Department medics took him to Regions Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

“Initial reports indicated the suspects responsible for this fled the area on foot,” Ernster said. Police searched the area and did not immediately find the suspects.

Police are investigating who was responsible for the shooting and the circumstances. Investigators ask anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5650.

— Mara H. Gottfried

Man charged in slaying, girlfriend’s abduction

A 35-year-old Brainerd man accused of shooting another man to death and then abducting the suspect’s pregnant girlfriend and her four children was arraigned Monday in Crow Wing County District Court.

Chad Aaron Aanerud was charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree murder.

A judge set bond at $3 million with no conditions, and prosecutors said they would seek to file a domestic abuse no-contact order against Aanerud.

Aanerud is due back in Crow Wing County District Court on Nov. 12.

According to the criminal complaint, at 1:50 a.m. Friday, law enforcement received a 911 call reporting Aanerud shot and killed Lyle Maske, 62.

While officers were administering lifesaving measures, they observed the main dwelling on the 15000 block of Loerch Road was engulfed in flames.

Nikkole Dobson and her four minor children lived at 15000 Loerch Road, in a building next to the main residence on the property that burned.

A woman living with Maske and his wife told law enforcement that shortly before the shooting, Dobson’s four children arrived at Maske’s residence and reported that Aanerud was “robbing grandpa and grandma’s house” — referring to the main residence on the 15000 block of Loerch Road.

Aanerud then forced Dobson and her four children into a vehicle at gunpoint and left the area at a high rate of speed.

An Amber Alert was issued at 7:20 a.m. Friday, and the vehicle driven by Aanerud was later located by law enforcement authorities near Little Falls. Aanerud was arrested.

Dobson and the minor children were found in the vehicle, along with 13 stolen firearms. Dobson had been physically assaulted, according to the complaint.

— Forum News Service

6 young duck hunters rescued on Leech Lake

Six young duck hunters were rescued after their boat capsized on Leech Lake on Sunday morning.

According to a release from Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk, at approximately 5:20 a.m. Sunday, dispatch received a distress call reporting that several

juveniles were stranded on Leech Lake in northeast Boy Bay near the Boy River.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Pat McGowan, who was nearby at the time, responded immediately by launching his watercraft to the scene.

“Officer McGowan was able to rescue the first four juvenile males, two of which were in the water and two on the boat, and transported them to shore,” the release said. “On a second trip, the last two juvenile males were rescued and transported to shore at approximately 7:05 a.m.”

All six hunters, who had been exposed to approximately 40-degree water, were treated on-site for mild hypothermia, with no additional medical attention required.

According to Welk, the initial investigation indicates that the group had departed from the Battle Point boat landing, traveling roughly three miles across Boy Bay before their small duck boat capsized. Welk noted that “life jackets were present in the boat but not worn at the time of the incident,” adding that “conditions were dark and windy at the time of the rescue.”

Welk credited the positive outcome of the rescue to Officer McGowan’s “quick response and rescue efforts.”

— Forum News Service