DULUTH — The man arrested on suspicion of shooting a man at a funeral on the Fond du Lac Reservation on Friday was charged with first- and second-degree felony assault.
On Friday morning, Shelby Boswell, 28, whose address is listed in Hugo, entered the Fond du Lac Head Start building's gymnasium, where a funeral ceremony was about to start. Boswell approached his sister's boyfriend from behind and fired a rifle at the back of his head, according to charges filed in Carlton County Court on Monday.
The boyfriend, 45-year-old Broderick Robinson, of Minneapolis, remained conscious and turned around to see Boswell pointing the rifle at him.
Family members and others attending the funeral moved to block Boswell from firing at Robinson again and disarmed him, according to the charges. They took the rifle out of the gym to an empty locker room nearby.
Robinson was later taken to a Duluth hospital for noncritical injuries and released Friday night, Cloquet police said.
Interim Police Chief Derek Randall said the funeral was for Boswell's grandmother.
Boswell ran from the gym but was detained by police officers in the parking lot. He was also charged with felonies for possession of heroin and meth, which officers found on him when he was arrested.
Because Boswell has been convicted of three felony assaults dating back to 2010, he received an additional felony charge for having a rifle. Minnesota law bans anyone convicted of a violent crime from possessing a firearm.
The shooting sent a school and tribal offices into lockdown for more than two hours Friday. Officials helped move the funeral to another gymnasium nearby so that mourners could finish the ceremony before sundown, keeping with cultural traditions.
Boswell's bail was set at $500,000, and an initial court date was set for next Monday.
Katie Galioto • 612-673-4478