Tense situation in Brooten turns up empty

Law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions responded to a home on Highway 55 in Brooten this morning, Tuesday, November 26. This included Belgrade-Brooten Police Chief Casey Jansky plus the Minnesota State Patrol and multiple officers with the Stearns County Sheriff's Office. Per newspaper sources, an armed, male individual had barricaded himself inside the house. (That source was incorrect! Police initially received possible bad information.)

Due to the home being within just a couple blocks of the elementary school, B-B-E elementary put the building into a "soft lockdown" at about 10:35 a.m. while the situation unfolded. By 11:45 a.m., the police squad vehicles left the area after the suspect was safely brought into custody.

Here's the message sent out by B-B-E schools for parents this morning:
This morning, approximately 10:35 a.m., we received a notice of police activity near our Elementary School in Brooten. We immediately went into a "Soft Lockdown". A lockdown of this type suggests that students stay in the building and carry on normal activity. We do not go outside during this type of lockdown. Law Enforcement has intervened and the situation is under control. We will continue in Soft Lock Down until Law Enforcement lets us know otherwise.

Additional updates will be posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website at this web article: https://shorturl.at/R4UCR. The web article was updated with correct information.

And a big shout out to our local law enforcement personnel for the work they do every day of the week to protect our small town communities!