Five men and two women were in custody Friday night after an incident in which tribal officers were fired on and tribal, federal, state and local agents engaged in a 10-hour standoff at a home outside Redby, Minn., on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Tribal officers who responded to a shots-fired call just after 5 a.m. were fired on eight or nine times, apparently by an automatic or semi-automatic weapon, according to Bill Brunelle, Red Lake Department of Public Safety Law Enforcement Director.
One officer hiding behind a pickup truck was hit by shrapnel in his vest but was not hurt.
Officers called for backup, and the Beltrami County SWAT team, the FBI, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force responded.
Law enforcement officers established communication with the occupants of the house and eventually coaxed three men, ages 24, 35 and 44 out of the house, along with two women, 26 and 32.
After firing tear gas into the home, they took two remaining men, 42 and 64, into custody, and recovered weapons in the house.
The incident is under investigation and any charges will be filed by the Red Lake Tribal Courts and the U.S. district attorney's office.
Bill McAuliffe
