Teen shooting suspect, mother arrested

Law enforcement officials named the victim of last week's shooting - Joseph James

Peterson, age 16 - last week after charges of second-degree manslaughter were filed against Joseph James Fohrenkam, 18.

Fohrenkam, who had left the area with his mother, Littlefawn Fohrenkam, after the shooting, was located and arrested Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex on the White Earth Reservation in Mahnomen County.

"We've had a lot of people working hard on ways to locate him, so we're really pleased to have him in custody," St. Louis County Sgt. Wade Rasch told the Pine Knot News Wednesday. Both mother and son were in custody and set to be transported to St. Louis County.

Details of the shooting emerged after the criminal complaint was filed last week, outlining the charge against Joseph Fohrenkam.

Deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office and Fond du Lac police officers responded to a 911 call at 1:19 a.m. Dec. 28 reporting that someone was shot and requesting an ambulance. When officers arrived, they found Peterson - a gunshot wound below his left eye - dead in a white pickup truck outside of the residence in rural St. Louis County. The home sits near a curve on the 3600 block of Giiniw Road, a dead-end street not far from Belich Road on the Fond du Lac Reservation.

According to the criminal complaint, officers could hear a male and female yelling and arguing in the background of the 911 call, believed to be Joseph Fohrenkam and his mother, Littlefawn Fohrenkam, during which the woman allegedly said "Son, please stop, no," and he responded "what I did mom, f**k" and she asks why he did that.

Law enforcement also eventually interviewed three people who were in the truck with Peterson and Joseph Fohrenkam. All five were in Fohrenkam's extended cab pickup truck drinking alcohol and talking, not arguing, on the night of Dec. 27. Peterson was sitting in the middle of the back seat and Fohrenkam was in the driver's seat.

According to the witness testimony, Fohrenkam allegedly had a pistol. One of the witnesses described him as "waving the pistol around and showing it off," then pointing it in the direction of Peterson in the back seat. At least two of the witnesses said they thought Fohrenkam may have hit his arm on the center console when he was pulling it back, causing the pistol to discharge. Another remembered Fohrenkam removing the magazine at one point, then "racking the slide back" and thinking a round was ejected. Fohrenkam was "messing around," pointing the gun at everyone, more than one witness stated.

When they heard the gun go off and saw Peterson bleeding, two witnesses ran inside the house. They then heard more gunshots outside, which were allegedly fired by Fohrenkam at an unknown target, possibly a bottle on the ground or the truck. At least one said he thought Fohrenkam might have been shooting himself "because he was upset that he just killed his close friend."

All three of the witnesses fled the scene before the police arrived, as did Fohrenkam and his mother. After police arrived, they located two adult women inside the residence and they were interviewed. The complaint seems to indicate that at least one witness and Joseph Fohrenkam also resided there.

The charge description notes that Fohrenkam caused "the death of a human being" and is culpable because he created an "unreasonable risk and consciously took a chance of causing death or great bodily harm to another."

The maximum sentence for manslaughter in the second degree is 10 years or $20,000.