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Bullet fired close range in chest
Privately owned mini-rooms. Across Huff Street from Winona State University. The high-rise WSU dorm Sheehan Hall is down the block. Other on-campus dorms are immediately across the street.
WINONA, Minn. – The criminal complaint in an apartment shooting early Thursday near Winona State University details a frenzied drunken confrontation with threats and dares. Also, according to the complaint, the shooter, Cole Robert Cameron, age 27, was jacked up on alcohol. After his arrest Cameron’s blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.20% — 2-1/2 times the legal level for intoxication. The complaint says the victim also was drunk, The complaint, signed by police Sergeant Adam Brommerich, cites first-hand statements from Cameron, the victim and a witness, as well as doorbell video and cell phone audio:
> Cameron and another adult male were arguing in the third-floor hallway at the Studios on Huff apartment building off Huff Street on the 300 block of West Howard Street.
> Cameron went into his apartment and returned to the hallway with a black 9mm Baretta handgun.
> Cameron yelled at the other man that he was going to pump “you full of lead.”
> Cameron said: “Get back” and “Get away from me! Do you want to get shot?”
> The witness attempted to get the other man to return to his own apartment, but the guy stayed in the hall.
> The witness returned to his own apartment and started recording the altercation on his phone.
> Cameron yelled at the other man: “It’s loaded, hollow points! Go back to your apartment now!”
> Seconds later Cameron told the victim: “Two hollow-points loaded for your chest right now, you know that? Go back to your apartment, now! Do it or I’ll fucking shoot you!”
> Cameron walked backward down the hall, his right arm extended, still pointing the Baretta toward victim: “Do you want me to pull the trigger?” The other man responded: “Pull it.” Immediately a single gunshot was fired.
> The victim, himself extremely intoxicated, stumbled down the hall with a cell phone in his hand.
> A motion-activated Ring camera missed the actual shooting. When the video resumed, the victim was lying on the floor moving slightly and moaning.
> The witness left his own apartment and went back into the hallway and saw Cameron standing over the victim.
> Police were dispatched at 4:21 a.m. They had been called that a man had been shot.
> The witness told Cameron to put the gun away, that police were on the way.
> The witness attempted to provide medical aid.
> Cameron went to his own apartment. A short time later emerged from the apartment without the gun.
> When police arrived, Cameron and the witness were leaning over the victim, who was lying on his right side on the floor with a single gunshot to the chest.
> Without being asked, Cameron told officers: “I shot him.”
> The witness pointed officers to Cameron’s apartment: “The firearm is in his room.”
> Officers obtained a warrant to search Cameron’s apartment. The loaded Beretta handgun was on a kitchen counter.
> Officers also found three handgun magazines and boxes of ammunition. Later the officers determined that Cameron received a permit two weeks earlier to buy the gun.
> The victim was taken by ambulance to the Winona hospital. Because his condition was severe, he was airlifted 30 miles to a higher-level trauma center in La Crosse for surgery. Fourteen hours later he was still unconscious, but his condition had stabilized.
Cameron. Booked for first-degree assault and intentional discharge of a firearm. He also had been charged with assault two weeks earlier in ab unrelated encounter.
Spartan one-room units. Rent $400 to $600 monthly. Size ranges from 140 to 300 square feet. Tenants include budget-conscious Winona State students who forsake more expensive on-campus housing and meal plans.