Funeral shooter sentenced to 9 years

A man who shot his sister's boyfriend at a funeral on the Fond du Lac reservation in 2019 was sentenced to 110 months in prison Monday.

Shelby Gene Boswell, 29, was convicted in federal court with possession and discharge of a firearm (a .22 caliber rifle) by a convicted felon. His sentence of 110 months will be followed by three years of supervised release for illegally possessing and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 18, 2019, Boswell approached 45-year-old Broderick Boshay Robinson from behind before the funeral service started, then "produced a rifle and fired the rifle at the man's head." Robinson was struck in the back of the head but remained conscious, and turned and saw the defendant pointing the rifle at him.

At that point, family members and funeral attendees moved to block Boswell from firing again, disarmed him and took the rifle to an empty locker in a nearby room. Robinson ran from the gym to another area. Robinson was taken to Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet, then transferred to Essentia St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth and was released the same day.

Although Boswell was initially charged with first- and second-degree assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, as well as second- and third-degree drug possession in Sixth District Carlton County Court, those charges were dismissed after a grand jury in St. Paul indicted Boswell with the federal charge of possession and discharge of a firearm by a convicted felon.

At the time, Carlton County attorney Lauri Ketola said a review of the investigation did not support a charge of attempted murder. She also said the mandatory minimum sentence was greater under the federal system, and sentences must be served consecutively. The fact that the offense was committed in a school zone also brought with it a greater sentence in district court.

The shooting took place on the grounds of Fond du Lac Head Start, which is within a distance of 1,000 feet of the grounds of Fond du Lac Ojibwe High School. Because he had prior felony convictions in Beltrami County, Carlton County, and in U.S. District Court, Boswell is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Andrew R. Winter and Bradley M. Endicott prosecuted the case. Chief U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim sentenced Boswell.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Carlton County Sheriff's Office, and the Fond du Lac Police Department.