White Bear Lake man pleads guilty to shooting cop

A White Bear Lake man has admitted to seriously wounding a police officer and shooting at several others as they tried to arrest him at his home in January.

Daniel L. Holmgren Jr., 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court to one count of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and three counts of first-degree assault on a peace officer in connection with the hourslong standoff Jan. 24.

The plea agreement calls for a 19-year sentence. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Holmgren is expected to serve about 12 years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Holmgren, who remains in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 24.

Police officer Ryan Sheak, 39, was wounded in the leg, stomach and pelvis in the shooting, and underwent emergency surgery.

Sheak became a White Bear Lake police officer in June 2017 after serving as a community service officer since December 2015. The graduate of White Bear Lake High School is married with three children.

According to the criminal complaint:

The officers entered the apartment and announced themselves to Holmgren. He was in his bedroom with the door closed, refused to come out and said he was ready to die.

That's when Holmgren fired toward the bedroom door, striking Sheak. Officers returned fire and retreated, leading to a two-hour standoff. As negotiators tried to coax Holmgren to surrender, he continued to threaten to kill law enforcement officer.

SWAT teams eventually used a robot to fire tear gas into the apartment. Hours later, Holmgren surrendered and was arrested without injury.

Police recovered a loaded 9-millimeter from a bathroom next to his bedroom.