Neighbors, friends mourn Nerstrand boy shot by sister

NORTHFIELD, MINN. - Sisters Cathy and Josie Berger knew Anthony Brastad when he was just a bump in his mother's tummy. They watched him learn to walk and grow into a lively, talkative 3-year-old.

On Wednesday, they mourned for him at the Northfield apartment complex where they first met Anthony's mother, Carla Brastad, and his 6-year-old sister. In the three years since, the Berger sisters had become the children's regular baby sitters and surrogate siblings.

On Tuesday afternoon, Anthony's 6-year-old sister accidentally shot and killed him with a handgun she'd found in their new home in nearby Nerstrand, Minn.

"I want to believe that it was just all a dream," Cathy Berger said. "We talked all of the time. [Anthony] would come by my house and say, 'Hi, Kay-tee.'"

On Wednesday, authorities said that there were three guns in the house where Carla Brastad and her two children lived with her boyfriend, Terrance Kalina. The Brastads had just moved into the house, which Kalina owns, last week, neighbors said.

For neighbors and friends, the circumstances of the shooting took a back seat Wednesday to the family tragedy and to the loss of a beloved little boy.

Friend Jennifer Torgrimson said Anthony was afraid of dogs until he grew accustomed to those she fostered.

"He was a great little kid," she said. "He would put on my daughter's horseback-riding helmet and jump on a dog and say he was going horseback riding."

He loved cars so much he wasn't satisfied with just playing with them; he carried around old car keys and regularly announced that he was dashing off somewhere, she said.

Torgrimson said Carla Brastad didn't want to comment beyond thanking people for the support she's received.

"Obviously, they're very upset about everything," Torgrimson said. "It really was a tragic accident."

Reached by phone Wednesday, the children's father, who lives in the area, declined to comment.

According to the Rice County sheriff's office, the 6-year-old girl found a .357 Magnum revolver in an unlocked night stand in an upstairs bedroom. The girl pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. She fired a second time, and a bullet struck Anthony in the back of the head about 3:15 p.m.

Anthony was airlifted from a schoolyard in Nerstrand, about 55 miles south of the Twin Cities, and taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. He was pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m.

Carla Brastad was in the kitchen on the first floor at the time of the shooting. Kalina was not home at the time.

Cathy and Josie Berger visited Carla and her little girl at North Memorial Medical Center Tuesday night. Josie Berger said the girl recounted how she found the gun and was playing with it when it went "boom," throwing her back. "She was devastated," Josie said. "She couldn't stop crying."

The family will find therapy for the little girl, Torgrimson said.

The sheriff's office is investigating how the gun was stored and will forward the case within 10 days to the county attorney's office for possible charges. The gun recently had been moved to the night stand for "housekeeping issues"; it was previously kept unlocked in a child-accessible area, said Sheriff Richard Cook.

Carla Brastad and Kalina knew the gun, which had five bullets in the six-bullet cylinder, was in the drawer, Cook said. In addition, an unloaded rifle and shotgun were found in unlocked gun cases in a corner of another room in the house, Cook said.

The incident is the only accidental, nonhunting fatal shooting involving children in Rice County that the sheriff could recall in his 32 years with the county.

"Anytime you have children involved it's difficult, because most of us have children or grandchildren or nieces and nephews," Cook said.

A child who often asked why

On Wednesday afternoon, neighbor Elizabeth Vezzoli sat slumped on the stoop of Kalina's empty home. A bicycle, in-line skates and a large trampoline sat in the neatly kept yard. A small inflatable pool was set up in the back yard. A rooster crowed among a harem of buff-colored hens that Kalina raised for eggs, which he shared with Vezzoli.

Anthony "was really cute," a tearful Vezzoli said. "Really lively. Friendly."

Vezzoli's 7-year-old son, Jake, regularly played with him.

"My son would tell me, 'He asks me, "Why?" about everything all of the time,'" she said with a smile. "I'm going to miss that little kiddo playing. He was so exuberant, you know?"

Kalina has lived in Nerstrand for years, neighbors said. The Berger sisters said Carla, who is not employed outside the home, and the children had moved in with him last week.

Vezzoli and neighbor Joel Hochschild described Kalina as a "good guy" who works in construction for a Twin Cities company. Neighbors said they were shocked to learn there was a loaded gun in the home.

"It's just a terrible tragedy," said Hochschild, who has known Kalina for 25 years.

Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391