On September 6, 2022, at 7:40 p.m., the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from a driver on westbound Interstate 94 reporting that another driver had just fired a gun at his vehicle and struck it. The location given was near mile marker 154, which is between St. Joseph and Avon, in Avon Township. Deputies from the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office along with officers from the Avon Police Department, Albany Police Department, St. Joseph Police Department, and Minnesota State Patrol immediately responded to the area. The caller relayed that the shooting vehicle continued westbound on the interstate. The caller said he was going to continue to his residence a short distance away. Deputies eventually located the caller at his residence and found he had a gunshot wound to the tip of his nose. Deputies and Officers continued to look for the driver and vehicle that had reportedly fired the shot. That vehicle, a 2010 Black Ford Escape, was located near the westbound Melrose exit where the driver, Shannon Woods, 23, from Inkster, Michigan, was stopped and detained. The investigation determined that a driving dispute took place between Woods, in the Ford Escape, and the caller, in a 2012 grey Volkswagen GTI, while westbound on Interstate 94. At one point during the dispute and while the vehicles were still westbound, Woods allegedly fired a handgun from the Ford Escape striking the other male in Volkswagen GTI. Investigators took Woods into custody and booked him into the Stearns County Jail on Second Degree Assault charges. This case remains an active and ongoing investigation. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office was also assisted by the Melrose Police Department and the Sauk Centre Police Department. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may have witnessed this event to contact our office at 320-259-3700.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-