Caledonia Argus

Brownsville man shot in stand-off

Posted: 6/11/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Ronald Curtis Danielson, 56, of Brownsville faces felony charges following a stand off with police officers Saturday afternoon, June 8. The incident ended after Danielson was wounded by a police officer.

The Houston County Sheriffís Office received a call at approximately 12:50 p.m. from Danielsonís wife, who called 911 stating that Danielson had a gun pointed at her head.

Sheriff Mike Lee said dispatchers told the woman and two younger children to leave the house and go to a neighbors house.

When officers Ken Frank of the Houston County Sheriffís Office, Heath Dienger of the Caledonia Police Department and Doug Stavenau of the La Crescent Police Department arrived on the scene, Danielson was brandishing a shotgun.

Sheriff Mike Lee said Danielson was not pointing the weapon, but was holding it in sight of the officers. He would come in and out of his house with the weapon. Officers ordered Danielson numerous time to put the shotgun down.

At one point, Danielson went into the house and exchanged the shotgun for a deer hunting rifle. Again, the officers pleaded with Danielson to put down his weapon.

The suspect refused and at one point he came out of the front door of the residence, got into a kneeling position and pointed the gun at the officers.

He was ordered several times to drop the weapon. When officers felt he was going to pull the trigger, Lieutenant Ken Frank shot Danielson in the upper right arm.

The subject fell to the ground and was transported to Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse where he underwent surgery on his arm. As of Monday, June 10, he was listed in stable condition.

The entire incident lasted between 20 to 25 minutes. More police back-up arrived after Danielson was shot.

Lee told The Argus that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), was on the scene after the shooting and will provide a summary of their investigation to the sheriffís office this week. Any time there is a shooting situation, it is routine procedure to do an investigation.

Houston Countyís policy requires the officer to be on paid leave until the summary is received.

Lee said this is the first time in the 21 years that heís worked for the sheriffís office that an officer has been involved in a shooting. He said that Danielson will be charged with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

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