Man arrested in shooting at Hinckley casino (MN)

[TheeBadOne]

HINCKLEY, Minn. -- Grand Casino Hinckley was locked down for more than an hour Thursday night after a shooting incident.

The incident apparently began in the parking lot of the Grand Cinema movie theater about three blocks from the casino.

Theater manager Brian Weidendorf, 42, approached two or three men who were waving guns in the parking lot, according to Weidendorf's 17-year-old son, Brad.

``He saw some guys acting weird, holding up guns and flashing guns,'' Brad Weidendorf said. ``He went over there and got into an argument. He tried to confront them.''

Brad Weidendorf said his father got into his pickup truck and was driving away from the parking lot when a bullet crashed through the rear window of the truck and sprayed broken glass that struck Weidendorf in the head. Weidendorf was not seriously injured.

The son said his father then drove to the nearby casino.

``I think he was trying to get away,'' the son said. ``He was driving away in his truck.''

Brad Weidendorf said he didn't know what happened in the casino parking area that prompted authorities to lock down the casino. The casino had re-opened by 9 p.m.

Television reports said two people exchanged gunfire in the casino parking lot, and that one of the men then hijacked a car. It wasn't immediately clear how that incident was connected to Weidendorf being shot at.

Authorities arrested one person at the casino and were searching for another man late Thursday, the television reports said.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/4264004.html
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Something tells me this is going to be an interesting one.

 

[TarpleyG]

``He saw some guys acting weird, holding up guns and flashing guns,'' Brad Weidendorf said. ``He went over there and got into an argument. He tried to confront them.''

Somebody for got to tell him that he should always bring a gun to a gunfight.

GT

 

[FPrice]

"Somebody for got to tell him that he should always bring a gun to a gunfight."

Better yet, don't get involved in someone else's gunfight unless you have a darn good reason. Best bet, call the professionals.

 

[Beren]

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

 

[Chupacabra]

Theater manager Brian Weidendorf, 42, approached two or three men who were waving guns in the parking lot...

Ehhhh, that wasn't very smart. Darwin award nominee?

 

[Greg L]

Darwin award nominee?

Can't be, he already passed his genes along to the next generation. Still a candidate for "dumbest act of 2003" though...

Greg

 

[TheeBadOne]

UPDATE

Man charged with attempted murder in casino incident

PINE CITY, Minn. - Authorities charged a man with attempted murder and other felonies Friday in an alleged drug-fueled shooting that prompted a lockdown at Grand Casino Hinckley.

A movie theater owner was slightly injured as events unfolded Thursday evening.

According to the criminal complaint, Kenneth John Robbins, 33, of Hinckley, told Pine County investigators he had been using methamphetamine for six days straight and was angry with someone he thought had been making the stimulant at his home without his knowledge.

Robbins said he decided to find this person, who he believed was in the Twin Cities, so he got his guns and went to the Grand Cinema Hinckley, about three blocks away from the casino, to steal a vehicle because his Cadillac wasn't running properly, the complaint alleged.

Around 7 p.m., authorities got a call from the theater owner's nephew, Matt Johnson, who said he and his uncle, Brian Weidendorf, were outside when they saw Robbins drive up and take a rifle and a shotgun out of his Cadillac. Johnson went inside to call 911, while Weidendorf decided to drive away in his pickup truck.

Robbins got back into his Cadillac and chased Weidendorf, the complaint said. Weidendorf told investigators that when he came to a stop light, he decided he needed to stop Robbins before he hurt anyone. So he put his pickup into reverse and backed into the Cadillac.

At that point, according to the complaint, Robbins opened fire on the truck and kept shooting as Weidendorf drove off. A bullet or fragment grazed his head, but the wound wasn't serious. He headed up the casino driveway. Weidendorf made a quick turn at the front door and then drove to the Hinckley fire hall to seek help for his wound.

But Robbins stopped outside the casino and pointed his rifle at two valet attendants, the complaint alleged. They fled. Witnesses told investigators they saw Robbins trying to unjam his rifle there. He then allegedly took his shotgun from his Cadillac and confronted a man who had just pulled up, ordered him out of his car, and then fled in the man's Grand Marquis.

Authorities found the Grand Marquis abandoned in town around 8 p.m. Around 9 p.m., Robbins' brother pulled up to a deputy and a state trooper, said he had picked his brother up about a half-hour earlier, and was turning him in. Robbins was apparently having trouble breathing because of all the drugs he had been taking, the complaint said. Robbins was taken to a hospital for treatment and detoxification.

Outside the casino, which officials locked down for about an hour to protect the guests, officers recovered an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle with a 50-round drum, which was still partially full. They found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun near where the Grand Marquis was abandoned.

Robbins gave a statement to investigators Friday afternoon. The complaint said he told them he had been using about six grams of methamphetamine a day for six days. He said that when he saw Weidendorf leave the theater, he decided to leave as well.

According to the complaint, Robbins said something snapped when Weidendorf backed into the front end of his Cadillac. The complaint said he admitted opening fire, but denied intending to kill Weidendorf, whom he knew, and that he had no ill feelings toward him.

The charges include three counts of attempted second-degree murder involving Weidendorf and the valets, four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon involving Weidendorf, the valets and the Grand Marquis owner, and one count of aggravated robbery for the theft of the car. The maximum penalty for attempted second-degree murder is 20 years in prison.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/7480184.htm
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Obviously a result of the war on drugs. If Meth was legal people wouldn't be delusional
like this guy was....

 

[SteelyDan]

Yeah, I always get a little crabby after my fifth or sixth straight day of doing crank, too...

As for Mr. Weidendorf, I agree with all of the above, and yes his judgment was poor, but I can't help but kinda respect him.

 

[Ryder]

I dunno TheeBadOne if the peacenik drugs of the 60's were never prohibited it's debatable whether many of these dangerous pharmacutical style designer drugs would have ever been developed. People take the path of least resistance to get what they want.

Anyhow.. I sure hope I never run into someone that jumpy! Definitely a hazardous person to "run into" . Never did that drug before but I'd be willing to bet 1 gram would be enough to kill a normal person. He's doing 6 grams a day?

 

[TheeBadOne]

Crank was available in the 60's

 

[artherd]

Jesus, what a ????ing champ...

Note to self, next time some crankster comes and ransacks my theater, don't go out into the parking lot UNARMED and try to chat.

Instead, set up on the roof, and when he threatens somebody else with his shotgun, do the world a favor with your scoped rifle.

 

[WonderNine]

According to the criminal complaint, Kenneth John Robbins, 33, of Hinckley, told Pine County investigators he had been using methamphetamine for six days straight and was angry with someone he thought had been making the stimulant at his home without his knowledge.

Yea, some dude was cooking meth in my kitchen for a whole week and I didn't even know about it dude! I was so pissed!

Bang! Bang!

 

[Ryder]

Crank was available in the 60's

I didn't know that. I thought that was a mid 70s invention that appeared when they tightened up controls on the pharmacies. Lots of prescription speed going around in the 60s though. Is that what you mean? Black beauties were just lab grade crank? Never heard the term crank until 1977, prior to that it was referred to as crystal meth or just crystal.

Not that it matters

 

[JohnBT]

6 grams a day? Yow. Hard to believe.

Prescription crystal meth in tablet form is called Desoxyn and it was widely available way back when. About the only reason I know this is that in the early 70s I worked briefly at a V. A. Hospital in the drug treatment unit while I was in grad school. Prescription speed was getting hard to find by the mid-70s.

John