An Elk River man faces six felony charges after reportedly shooting out windows at the Sherburne County government center to get inside over the weekend, as well as threatening people in the parking lot with a long gun and machete-type knife.
Zha Kong Vang, 51, was charged with three counts of second-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of possessing a weapon in a courthouse and one count of property damage in Sherburne County District Court. At his first hearing Tuesday, Judge Kristi Stanislawski set bail at $2 million.
According to the charges, an employee reported just before 9 a.m. Saturday that a man broke into the government center in Elk River and was walking around inside with a gun. A few minutes later, a woman reported she and her daughter were in a parking lot outside the building when a man, later identified as Vang, hit the front passenger window several times with the gun’s barrel and stock.
Video surveillance shows Vang shooting an exterior window to enter the building, where he tried to gain access to the locked court area, charges say. He then walked through the building to the jail and law enforcement area while trying to open several locked doors, and fired a round toward the maintenance building as he exited the government center.
Surveillance shows him then approaching the woman’s vehicle, slashing the tire on a government van and approaching a second passenger vehicle, where he “jabbed the knife into the open window of the car at the face/neck area of the driver,” charges state.
That driver sped off “in a panic” and spoke with officials after Vang’s arrest, charges state. Responding officers found Vang outside the north side of the building with a long gun and sheathed knife similar in size to a machete. After repeated commands to drop his gun, he set it on the ground and was arrested.
In a separate case, Vang was charged with five felonies after an August 2024 incident in which he allegedly threatened to shoot two relatives at a home in Big Lake Township. When arrested, he was in possession of a methamphetamine pipe and exhibited signs of being under the influence, court documents state. He was charged with five felonies.
In that case, Vang was ruled incompetent in June; on July 3, prosecutors submitted a notice of their intent to prosecute when he was deemed competent to proceed.
