Charges: 21-year-old fired 90 shots during standoff in Albert Lea; shot 3 people, including cop
Credit: Freeborn County Adult Detention Center
A 21-year-old Albert Lea man has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon after shooting at two unsuspecting victims and a police officer Sunday morning.
The wild scene unfolded for more than eight hours, beginning with Devin Weiland – the accused shooter – calling 911 at 2:18 a.m. to report that fireworks or gunshots had been fired in the area of the Shady Oak apartments on the 800 block of 4th Ave. S.
A responding police officer got to the scene and was then "ambushed" by Weiland, who is accused of shooting from the window of his third-floor apartment, per the criminal complaint.
Multiple shots hit the officer's squad vehicle while the officer took a bullet to the chest, though he was wearing a protective vest. The officer was able to retreat and drive himself to a local ER for treatment.
According to the criminal complaint, Weiland fired approximately 90 shots over the next eight hours, many of them directed at the trio of SWAT teams and numerous law enforcement outside and inside the apartment building.
Two other people were shot at random by Weiland, the complaint says. One person who left the apartment building due to concern about his vehicle suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.
A police officer rescued the man from the scene and transported him to the hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound that struck him in the back of his right bicep and left a larger exit wound on the front of his bicep. The shot fractured and displaced the bone in his arm while also causing a "large tearing injury to the right side of his chest," the complaint says.
Another person who lives across the street from the apartment building was leaving for work around 5:15 a.m. when he was struck by a bullet that went through his car door, penetrating his leg, and required emergency surgery.
While police were attempting to evacuate the building, Weiland continued firing at law enforcement and residents.
At some point during the standoff, Weiland suffered an injury to his forehead that caused extensive bleeding, prompting him to surrender and leave his apartment. After being treated at a hospital, Weiland was booked into the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center.
Weiland admitted that he fired at the police officer who was struck and the other victim who was hit while driving, with Weiland claiming that he thought that he was shooting at another police squad car.
Three rifles and a shotgun were found inside his apartment.
