Crime, Law and Justice

Family found safe after shooting, kidnapping prompt Amber Alert; suspect arrested

MPR News logo placeholder
MPR News
MPR

Authorities in central Minnesota say a pregnant woman and her four children were found safe Friday morning, hours after they were reportedly abducted by the woman’s boyfriend at gunpoint from a home near Brainerd.

The reported abduction had triggered an Amber Alert across the state.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the 35-year-old Brainerd man suspected of abducting the family also is suspected of fatally shooting a man at another residence nearby, and setting fire to a home.

According to the BCA and the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office:

Deputies responded to a report of a shooting just before 2 a.m. on Loerch Road, northeast of Brainerd. They found a man — identified as 62-year-old Lyle Maske — dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

Authorities learned that the suspect also allegedly abducted a 33-year-old woman and her four children — ages 3, 7, 11 and 14 — at gunpoint.

Authorities said the woman’s boyfriend fired a rifle into the ceiling of the home before forcing the family to leave with him.

After the Amber Alert was issued, the vehicle was located and stopped by law enforcement officers in Morrison County at about 7:15 a.m. The woman and her children were found physically unharmed in the vehicle; the suspect was arrested.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.