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Senator's son shoots friend
crisisbill
Member Posts: 487 ✭✭✭
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) -- The lawyer for a state senator' s son who
shot a friend as he posed for pictures with a handgun says her death was nothing but a tragic accident.But authorities said Brett Lessard, 24, the son of Sen. Bob Lessard of International Falls, was negligent. They charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Itasca County District Court on Thursday.
" There' s going to be absolutely no question that this was a tragic accident and nothing but an accident, " said his attorney, Kevin Erickson. He said the criminal complaint does not tell the whole story.
Sen. Lessard said Friday that his son is an emotional wreck over what happened and was thinking about the family of the victim, Angela A. Aho, 20, of Cohasset. The senator said his own heart also goes out to the Aho family.
" I just want to say to the family that there' s no way, no words that can adequately express our anguish and sorrow that you must be going through, " he said.
Brett Lessard is a hunting and fishing guide who also works as a security guard. According to the complaint, he told an investigator his gun went off Wednesday night as he pointed it at Aho, who was taking pictures of him at his Grand Rapids home as part of a photography class project.
Lessard told the investigator the Glock 10 mm pistol normally was loaded, the complaint said.
Aho, an Itasca Community College student, was hit in the left eye and died.
Another student, a friend of both Aho and Lessard, saw the shooting and told
police that when she tried to call 911, Lessard took away her cell phone.
Lessard told an investigator he sent the witness to his bedroom while he
moved Aho' s body from his living room to his kitchen entryway, threw his
gun on the ground outside and used the telephone to try to call a police officer friend before driving away.
The witness then called 911, at 11:05 p.m. Police and paramedics couldn't revive Aho.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Phil Major said he doesn' t believe Lessard, who has no criminal record, was trying to evade the law when he drove off.
Major said Lessard, who had police training and is friends with some police officers, drove straight to the home of one of his officer friends. They went together to the law enforcement center so Lessard could turn himself in.
" I don' t know that I would attribute his actions to anything other than being panicked, " Major said.
He said he didn' t know if an immediate 911 call would have saved Aho' s life.
Judge Lois Lang set bail at $250, 000 and scheduled Lessard' s next court appearance for Monday. Assistant County Attorney Todd Webb requested the high bail, calling Lessard both a public safety and flight risk because he has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, the seriousness of the charges and the 12 weapons found in his home. He remained in custody Friday.
Third-degree murder in this case is defined as unintentionally killing someone " by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard to human life." Second-degree manslaughter is defined in part as causing death " by culpable negligence, " or " unreasonable risk."
If convicted, Lessard faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on the murder charge and 10 years and a $20, 000 fine on the manslaughter charge.
Steve Lorenz, director of Hibbing Community College' s law enforcement
training program, said a " cardinal rule" of firearms safety is that you never point a gun at something you don' t intend to shoot.
Another rule, he said, is that guns should be unloaded unless they have a trigger lock or are kept in an approved lock box. Any certified skills course Lessard could have taken would teach such things, he said.
He said Lessard, after apparently receiving some police training elsewhere,
made inquiries about taking a skills course in Hibbing, but did not enroll there.
Sen. Lessard, a member of the Independence Party who was first elected in 1976, left his office in St. Paul to be with his son.
The senator, who was first elected in 1976, jumped ship from the DFL last
year to become the only legislator in Gov. Jesse Ventura' s Independence Party. He is a strong advocate of gun rights. He has run hunting and fishing guide services since 1954 and owns a lodge in Canada' s Northwest Territories.
If you Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Failfreetog@ulster.net
shot a friend as he posed for pictures with a handgun says her death was nothing but a tragic accident.But authorities said Brett Lessard, 24, the son of Sen. Bob Lessard of International Falls, was negligent. They charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Itasca County District Court on Thursday.
" There' s going to be absolutely no question that this was a tragic accident and nothing but an accident, " said his attorney, Kevin Erickson. He said the criminal complaint does not tell the whole story.
Sen. Lessard said Friday that his son is an emotional wreck over what happened and was thinking about the family of the victim, Angela A. Aho, 20, of Cohasset. The senator said his own heart also goes out to the Aho family.
" I just want to say to the family that there' s no way, no words that can adequately express our anguish and sorrow that you must be going through, " he said.
Brett Lessard is a hunting and fishing guide who also works as a security guard. According to the complaint, he told an investigator his gun went off Wednesday night as he pointed it at Aho, who was taking pictures of him at his Grand Rapids home as part of a photography class project.
Lessard told the investigator the Glock 10 mm pistol normally was loaded, the complaint said.
Aho, an Itasca Community College student, was hit in the left eye and died.
Another student, a friend of both Aho and Lessard, saw the shooting and told
police that when she tried to call 911, Lessard took away her cell phone.
Lessard told an investigator he sent the witness to his bedroom while he
moved Aho' s body from his living room to his kitchen entryway, threw his
gun on the ground outside and used the telephone to try to call a police officer friend before driving away.
The witness then called 911, at 11:05 p.m. Police and paramedics couldn't revive Aho.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Phil Major said he doesn' t believe Lessard, who has no criminal record, was trying to evade the law when he drove off.
Major said Lessard, who had police training and is friends with some police officers, drove straight to the home of one of his officer friends. They went together to the law enforcement center so Lessard could turn himself in.
" I don' t know that I would attribute his actions to anything other than being panicked, " Major said.
He said he didn' t know if an immediate 911 call would have saved Aho' s life.
Judge Lois Lang set bail at $250, 000 and scheduled Lessard' s next court appearance for Monday. Assistant County Attorney Todd Webb requested the high bail, calling Lessard both a public safety and flight risk because he has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, the seriousness of the charges and the 12 weapons found in his home. He remained in custody Friday.
Third-degree murder in this case is defined as unintentionally killing someone " by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard to human life." Second-degree manslaughter is defined in part as causing death " by culpable negligence, " or " unreasonable risk."
If convicted, Lessard faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on the murder charge and 10 years and a $20, 000 fine on the manslaughter charge.
Steve Lorenz, director of Hibbing Community College' s law enforcement
training program, said a " cardinal rule" of firearms safety is that you never point a gun at something you don' t intend to shoot.
Another rule, he said, is that guns should be unloaded unless they have a trigger lock or are kept in an approved lock box. Any certified skills course Lessard could have taken would teach such things, he said.
He said Lessard, after apparently receiving some police training elsewhere,
made inquiries about taking a skills course in Hibbing, but did not enroll there.
Sen. Lessard, a member of the Independence Party who was first elected in 1976, left his office in St. Paul to be with his son.
The senator, who was first elected in 1976, jumped ship from the DFL last
year to become the only legislator in Gov. Jesse Ventura' s Independence Party. He is a strong advocate of gun rights. He has run hunting and fishing guide services since 1954 and owns a lodge in Canada' s Northwest Territories.
If you Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Failfreetog@ulster.net
Comments
PC=BS
Point a loaded gun at someone! As if that's not enough, why don't we put one in the chamber AND put our finger on the trigger!
How much you wanna bet he's going to blame/sue Glock for "accidental discharge." I hope (although with his father around, UNLIKELY) he does convicted. It would be nice if the operater gets blamed and not the pistol for once.
You're right badboybob, he should be out of the pool. Thanks to this C***sucker, there goes another senator that will advocate gun control to protect people from idiots like his son.
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