Latest news with #SherburneCounty
CBS News
3 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
6-month-old dies of bacterial meningitis at Big Lake home found to have black mold, police say
Deputies have described a Big Lake home where a 6-month-old child died earlier this month as extremely dirty, cluttered and unfit for living. An autopsy has found that the infant boy's death was due to bacterial meningitis, and Sherburne County officials say they found black mold in numerous locations in the home. The boy was one of nine children living at the home, the oldest of whom authorities said is about 12 years old. Bacterial meningitis is less common than viral meningitis, and authorities say it can cause death within hours. It can be contracted through exposure to coughing and sneezing, or to contaminated food. Babies are exceptionally vulnerable to the condition. Neighbor Blake Dalzell told WCCO that the family that lives at the home "seemed very normal." However, neighbors also said that they called child protection when one of the children almost fell into a neighbor's swimming pool. The Big Lake Police Department confirmed that officers had been called for welfare checks at that home twice in the past year and a half, but officials would not elaborate on the nature of any calls to the home. One neighbor, a nurse, told WCCO that they "did not see any big problem there. I felt like they were just a normal family." The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office says the criminal investigation into the death is continuing.
CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
Man shot into Sherburne Co. Government Center, attacked 3 in parking lot, charges say
A 51-year-old Elk River man is accused of shooting into the Sherburne County Government Center on Saturday and attacking three people in the parking lot. Zha Vang is charged in Sherburne County with felony counts of burglary, possession of a dangerous weapon, damage to property and three counts of second-degree assault. The criminal complaint says an employee at the Sherburne County Jail called 911 shortly after 9 a.m. to report that a man had broken through the door and was walking around the building with a gun. Surveillance camera video shows Vang shoot out an exterior window of a door to gain access to the building, the criminal complaint says. He then allegedly shot out another interior window and tried to gain access to a locked area of the court wing. Charges say that Vang then tried to access several locked doors that led to law enforcement and jail areas of the government center. Vang then walked out to the parking lot and approached a car with a woman and girl inside. Documents say he hit the front passenger window four times with the barrel and butt of the gun before the woman was able to back up and exit the lot. Video shows Vang then slashing the front tire of a county van with a long knife the size of a machete. The charges say he then approached another car with an open window and jabbed the knife through, towards the man in the driver's seat. The man was able to pull out of the parking lot. Deputies responded to the site and took him into custody. No one was injured. Note: The above video first aired on July 19, 2025, before Vang was charged.
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
Shooting at Sherburne County Government Center; no injuries
Officials say there was a shooting at the Sherburne County Government Center Saturday morning. The incident happened just after 9:30. Police say that a man was taken into custody outside the government center, he was walking away holding a long gun at the time. Police also say nobody was injured in the shooting. The man has been taken to the Sherburne County jail and staff at the government center are working to secure the building. Police did not give motive.
CBS News
18-07-2025
- CBS News
Wrong-way driver charged in central Minnesota crash that critically injured high school senior
A 71-year-old man has been charged in connection with a crash that injured three teenagers, one of them severely, earlier this year in central Minnesota. The Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, man was charged Thursday with four counts each of criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm and criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily harm. He is accused of driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Highway 10 in Sherburne County on the night of April 9. After driving the wrong way for several miles, he collided with another vehicle while turning right from Highway 10 onto 70th Avenue. The criminal complaint says a Minnesota state trooper responding to reports of the wrong-way driver, but unaware of the collision, struck the 71-year-old man's vehicle, which then hit two teens who were outside of their car, inspecting damage from the initial crash. As a result of the crash, one of the boys, 17-year-old Blayke Mostad, suffered life-threatening injuries to his brain and spinal cord. His brother, 15-year-old Braxton Mostad and their friend were also injured, as well as the suspect and the trooper. Charges say a review of the trooper's squad video shows the vehicles involved in the first collision were not visible to the trooper unit immediately before impact. The complaint notes that the intersection where the crash happened is unlit and uncontrolled. A blood sample taken from the suspect after the incident found Trazodone, a medication that can cause dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue and blurred vision, in his system, according to the complaint. The suspect allegedly told investigators he realized he was driving the wrong way right before the initial crash. In late June, Blayke Mostad's family shared in a CaringBridge post that he transitioned from the PICU to inpatient rehab. Note: The video above originally aired on April 15, 2025.
Globe and Mail
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Man charged with killing former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman due back in court after delay
The man charged with killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is due back in federal court Thursday for a hearing that was put on hold after his lawyer said his client had been unable to sleep while on suicide watch. The hearing is expected to address whether Vance Boelter should remain in custody without bail and affirm that there is probable cause to proceed with the case. He's not expected to enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first, before his arraignment, which is when a plea is normally entered. An unshaven Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, was wearing a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers when he was brought into court last Friday. Federal defender Manny Atwal then asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing. She said Boelter had been sleep deprived due to harsh conditions in the Sherburne County Jail, making it difficult for them to communicate. 'Your honour, I haven't really slept in about 12 to 14 days,' Boelter told the judge then. And he denied being suicidal. 'I've never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.' Biden, Harris and Walz attend funeral for and honour former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman Minnesota shooting suspect had dozens of potential targets, prosecutors say Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott, whose jail houses both county and federal prisoners, rejected Boelter's claims of poor conditions as absurd. 'He is not in a hotel. He's in jail, where a person belongs when they commit the heinous crimes he is accused of committing,' Brott said in a statement Friday. Boelter faces separate cases in federal and state court on charges of murder and attempted murder for what the state's chief federal prosecutor, Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, has called 'a political assassination' and 'a chilling attack on our democracy.' The feds are going first. Authorities say Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot to death in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park in the early hours of June 14 by a man disguised as a police officer who was driving a fake squad car. Boelter also allegedly shot and seriously wounded state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, earlier that morning at their home in nearby Champlin. The Hoffmans are recovering, but Hortman's golden retriever, Gilbert, was seriously injured and had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history, a hunt of around 40 hours. Atwal told the court last week that Boelter had been kept in what's known as a 'Gumby suit,' without undergarments, ever since his first court appearance June 16. She said the lights were on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slammed frequently, the inmate in the next cell would spread feces on the walls, and the smell would drift to Boelter's cell. The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity, and let him communicate better. The judge granted the delay. Boelter's lawyers have declined to comment on the charges themselves, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson has said no decision has been made whether to seek it. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. But Attorney General Pam Bondi has said from the start that the Trump administration will be more aggressive in seeking capital punishment. Prosecutors allege Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers. They also say he listed dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive. Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the mourners at the Hortmans' funeral last Saturday. Gov. Tim Walz, Harris's running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, eulogized Hortman as 'the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.' Hortman served as speaker from 2019 until January. She then yielded the post to a Republican in a power-sharing deal after the House became tied in the 2024 elections, and became speaker emerita.
