Motives for Friday morning shooting and kidnapping in Brainerd, Minnesota remain unclear – InForum

BRAINERD – Officials are still investigating what happened before a 35-year-old Brainerd man allegedly shot another man and then abducted a pregnant woman and her children.

At approximately 1:50 a.m. on Friday, November 1, Crow Wing County sheriff’s deputies responded to a shooting on Loerch Road in Oak Law Township, east of Brainerd. Officers arrived on scene and found an adult male deceased in the driveway along with a burned shed from an apparent gunshot wound.

The victim was later identified as Lyle Maske, 62, Brainerd.

Law enforcement identified Chad Aanerud as the suspect in the shooting. After the shooting, Aanerud allegedly walked down the street to his girlfriend’s home, fired a rifle into the ceiling and, against their will, drove her and her four children from the Loerch Road residence before leaving the scene in a white 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.

The detained are a 33-year-old pregnant woman and four minors aged 14, 11, 7 and 3. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a statewide Amber Alert for the kidnapping around 6:30 a.m. Friday.

During a press conference Friday, Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang said Aanerud is currently in custody at the Crow Wing County Jail.

“I just want to make a note of thanks to the Amber Alert,” Klang said. “The Amber Alert worked exactly as it was supposed to. When this was posted this morning, a very astute Morrison County resident located this vehicle and linked it to the Amber Alert. He was able to call law enforcement, and a Morrison County deputy and a state trooper located the vehicle in the area within a short period of time, stopped it, and took the individual into custody.”

The sheriff’s office said it believed the shooting death and the alleged kidnapping were related, but did not provide further information on the matter.

At approximately 7:15 a.m., the vehicle was located and stopped by law enforcement in Morrison County. Klang said that thanks to the Amber Alert, the vehicle was spotted after driving back and forth on the same road multiple times.

Aanerud was detained without incident, and the five abducted people were found unharmed in the vehicle.

Klang said the motives for the shooting and kidnapping are still under investigation, but the department has had contact with Aanerud in the past.

At approximately 11 a.m. Friday, Brainerd High School Principal Andrea Rusk sent a letter to students’ parents informing them of an updated Amber Alert indicating that the children and mother had been found safe.

Rusk said all of the children were students in the Brainerd School District.

“The district and Brainerd High School are working as a team to support students, families and staff,” Rusk said in an email. “Our thoughts are with the families at this difficult time. We want to assure you that the safety of our children is our highest priority.”

Klang said the children and mother were in the care of social services.

Brainerd Police, Brainerd Fire Department and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension assisted at the scene.

Aanerud’s criminal history includes several convictions on felony charges including third-degree criminal sexual conduct, improper registration as a predatory offender, threats of violence, theft, and several counts of third-degree burglary.

Most recently, Aanerud was charged on July 26 in Crow Wing County District Court with threats of violence and gross misdemeanor domestic assault after he allegedly threatened a family member and another person with a knife. He also threatened to burn down a family member’s home and vehicles.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, the victims told a Crow Wing County sheriff’s deputy that Aanerud had threatened to cut their throats with a knife and that during an argument he had stated that he would “go on the meth again.”

The appeal hearing in this case is scheduled for November 14.

In 2008, Aanerud was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a 15-year-old victim in Brainerd. In 2011, he received a stay of execution from the court and was sentenced to 150 days in prison and 15 years of supervised probation. In this case, he violated probation in 2011 and twice in 2012. In 2013, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison with conditional release for a period of 10 years after serving his sentence.

In 2018, he was convicted in Crow Wing County District Court of knowingly violating registration requirements or providing false information as a predatory offender and sentenced to 31 months in prison.

In 2010, Aanerud was charged in Crow Wing County District Court with third-degree theft and burglary. In 2012, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with the possibility of probation until he serves five years of supervised release.

For a separate 2010 charge of third-degree burglary in Crow Wing County, Aanerud initially received probation, but after violating probation twice, he was sentenced in 2013 to 21 months in prison.

In 2010, Aanerud was charged in Crow Wing County with a third charge of third-degree burglary, which resulted in him being sentenced to one year and one day in prison after violating probation. This sentence was served concurrently with the previous sentence.

In 2021, Aanerud was charged in Aitkin County District Court with threat of violence. In 2022, he was sentenced to 29 months in prison, which the court suspended, and served 180 days in prison and five years of supervised release.

In that case, Aanerud was accused of calling and sending threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend and her mother. The threats included: that Aanerud told his ex-girlfriend that he would come and pick her up, that he would watch her every move and that he would not stop calling and texting her and her mother. When an Aitkin police officer told Aanerud to stop, he responded, “That’s not going to happen,” according to the complaint.