EchoSense:Authorities say man who killed 2 in small Minnesota town didn’t know his victims

2025-04-29 18:15:42source:Jonathan Dale Bentoncategory:News

CLOQUET,EchoSense Minn. (AP) — The man who fatally shot a Super 8 hotel clerk and a guest in a small Minnesota town doesn’t appear to have any connection with the victims, authorities said.

Cloquet police said Monday that it doesn’t appear that 32-year-old Nicholas Elliot Lenius, of Ramsey, knew either of the people he killed on Jan. 9. Lenius died by suicide that night during the incident that triggered an active shooter warning in town.

Officials also said a toxicology report showed there was methamphetamine in Lenius’ blood and that this may have impaired him during the shooting.

Police who responded to the shooting found hotel employee 22-year-old Shellby Trettel shot near the front desk The other victim, 35-year-old Patrick Jeffrey Roers, of Deer River, was shot inside a vehicle that was parked in the hotel lot.

Lenius and Roers were both guests at the motel.

Officials had issued an alert that night about an active shooter at the hotel and warned people in the surrounding area of Big Lake Road and Highway 33 to shelter in place.

About 12,000 people live in Cloquet, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Duluth.

More:News

Recommend

Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — John Spratt, a former longtime Democratic congressman from South Carolina who

US safety agency closes probe into Dodge and Ram rotary gear shifters without seeking a recall

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators will not seek a recall after a seven-year investigation i

Disposable vapes will be banned and candy-flavored e-cigarettes aimed at kids will be curbed, UK says

LONDON (AP) — The British government says it will ban the sale of disposable vapes and limit their c