WINONA, Minn. – The man arrested after a West Side stabbing was still volatile and erratic when captured four hours later — and also in the hospital emergency room where police took him to be checked medically. before going to jail. Details of the Monday night saga were described in a regularly scheduled morning news briefing by Jay Rasmussen, deputy police chief, and Jeff Mueller, chief deputy sheriff. Here’s what they told reporters, supplemented here with information from additional sources:
> Who was arrested? Stig Thomas Ure, 25, ofNaknek, Alaska, a salmon fishing village on Bristol Bay, population 500, about 300 miles from Anchorage. He had been on a trip that included his mother to visit family and friends in Caledonia, 40 miles southwest of Winona in Houston County.
> How in Winona? Stig’s mother, concerned that he was drugged up, drove him with a relative from Caledonia to the Winona hospital. In the hospital parking lot he broke away on foot. The mother tried following Stig in her car. At the smaller Lake Winona, she stopped a police officer on patrol and that she was alarmed about Stig’s condition that she had just learned that he had texted to someone in the family from the area of Junction and Fifth streets. His purpose for the text wasn’t clear. Perhaps he was looking for a ride. She told the officer didn’t believe Stig new anybody in town. Nor did she have any idea how he had made it three miles or so from the hospital to the Far West End.
> Where was attack? The officer radioed for assistance and headed himself to 275 Junction Street. Meanwhile, another officer already in the neighborhood arrived even before employees at the shop, Gerard’s Small Engine Services, could call 911. This was abiutv5L20 a.m.
> From where did attacker come? Employees said the man, whom they didn’t know, had come in the main door looking lost, lingered briefly, went to a bathroom. They gave this further account:
> The attack. The man came out of the bathroom and attempted small talk with an employee who was seated and facing her computer. He then grabbed her shoulders and began striking her neck with his right hand, shouting “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” She fell to the floor. The woman said she felt something solid about six inches long, perhaps a pen, striking her neck. She struggled to fight the attacker off. He kept trying to jab her. She didn’t get a good look at the weapon but described it as sharp. The man fled the shop.
Ure. Image from family collection. At home at Naknek at the start of Aleutian peninsula.
Mower broken? Or snow-blower? The place to go on West End.
> How serious the injuries? Police said the woman’s neck had visible redness. There also were small punctures on her neck. She declined medical attention.
> Was the man intoxicated? The woman said she couldn’t tell. She was too scared.
> How did attacker get away? As more officers converged on the site, police quickly established a perimeter around several blocks and called a K-9 unit. Because of the randomness the attack and possible further risk to the public, a police desk sergeant to arequest for people in 30 or so mostly residential West End blocks to shelter-in-place. Also being a pleasant evening with people out strolling, jogging and barbequeing, police wanted streets and backyards clear to facilitate the search. At the same time, people were asked to report anything suspicious. Meanwhile, Police Chief Tom Williams and Sheriff Ganrude were en route. In all, 25 officers from multiple agencies joined the manhunt. The initial expectation was that the attacker would be found within a half an hour.
> How was Ure arrested? Four hours later, about 9:30 p.m., a citizen reported a a man crawling through bushes and trees along U.S.Highway 61 at the headend of Lake Winona, half a mile from the stabbing site. He was covered with mud and duck weed. He put up mold resistance, but officers were able to subdue and cuff him relatively easily. He was taken to the hospital to check whether he was medically fit to goto the county jail
> Hospital. Ure was not docile at the emergency room. Police gave this account: Ure kept screaming loudly and thrashing. He threw a cup at one officer and lunged at him. When a second officer intervened, Ure attempted to pull the officer’s handgun from its holster. The officer secured the weapon, while the officer wrestled Ure the floor. By this point, the medical check was concluded. The doctor OK’d Ure as medically fit for jail.
> Jail house. Ur was booked about 11:30 p.m. on tentative charges of assaultng with a dangerous weaon and attempting to disarm an officer. From a holding cell he was taken to a housing unit. There jail has a single-person padded cell to protect inmates from self-harm.
> Was there a firearm? Police said there never was evidence that Ure had a gun. Even so, an emergency alert from an external source said there was an “active shooter” on the loose. Jay Rasmussen, deputy police chief, said false characterization was being investigated. Probably, he said, the police alert was picked up by any of dozens of local in-house communication networks designed to keep employees advised of unfolding and possibly dangerous situations. Somebody somewhere used the term “active shooter,” which went locally viral. There was a report that the problem originated with a student employee at the Winona State University campus security control center. Rasmussen acknowledged that the police investigation would include Winona State’s internal alert system to students and employees. Whether the university was the source or not, Rasmussen said that criminal liability was unlikely for an unwitting error or misjudgment, short of intent to deceive or to instill panic. Rasmussen reiterated that a thorough review would be aimed at coordinating alerts through external local networks in the future.
Earlier: Apology issued for false “active shooter” alert