Former Boxer Accused of Shooting and Wounding Prosecutor, Two Others at Minn. Courthouse
A former boxer on trial for criminal sexual conduct is accused of shooting and injuring a prosecutor and two others in a courthouse in Northern Minnesota late Thursday afternoon.
The prosecutor, Cook County Attorney Timothy Scannell, underwent surgery last night, report the Duluth News Tribune, WTIP and the Associated Press. He was reportedly shot three times, WTIP says.
The suspect is 42-year-old Daniel Schlienz, the stories say. Schlienz’s mother, Ginger Berglund, was at the courthouse and tried to take the gun away from her son, according to Schlienz’s father, Gary Schlienz, who spoke to the News Tribune. The shooting reportedly occurred just after Daniel Schlienz was found guilty, says John Kostouros, a spokesman for the Minnesota Judicial Branch.
WTIP’s confidential sources say the other shooting victims were Gregory Thompson, who was shot multiple times, and bailiff Gary Radloff. The News Tribune didn’t identify Radloff, but Gary Schlienz told the newspaper he heard a bailiff had been shot in the arm.
Gary Schlienz said the prosecution was hard on his son. “I don’t want to make excuses for him, but they prosecuted him pretty bad. He had no job, no money, nothing,” he told the News Tribune. “I apologize to everybody for this and I wish to God it hadn’t happened.”
Daniel Schlienz was on trial for sexual assault after he successfully withdrew an Alford plea he entered in the case in 2006, the News Tribune says. He was accused of sexually assaulting three girls; two were 15 years old and the other was 17.
The courthouse, located in Grand Marais near the Canadian border, has just one courtroom and no metal detectors, AP says.
