Man charged with shooting stranger at Becker County trailer park

BECKER COUNTY, Minn. — A 31-year-old Frazee man faces charges for allegedly shooting a stranger during a fight at a trailer park.

Documents say he was at the Acorn Lake Trailer Park on Saturday morning with a woman he had met at the Becker County Fair. The two of them were sitting in his car and having a cigarette when they were approached by another man. The woman then told him to roll up his window. In an interview with officers after the shooting, the woman said that the two men did not know each other.

The Frazee man later told police that the stranger punched out his window and then punched him in the face. He said he feared for his safety and his life, and reached for his handgun that was in the backseat of his car. He added that the stranger also reached for his gun, charges say.

According to documents, the Frazee man said he pulled the trigger once and nothing happened, and afterwards he cocked the handgun and shot a second time while the stranger was still hitting him. The stranger then stumbled and fell to the ground, charges say.

The Frazee man admitted to police that he had a permit to carry that had recently expired.

He then went home and called 911, and was arrested soon after.

He was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter.