Police respond to several shots fired Monday

Shortly after midnight early Monday morning, May 17, Cloquet Police Department officers responded to 227 Scotty Drive in Cloquet for a report of several shots fired at the residence. Officers responded and confirmed the initial reports. No one was injured.

A short while later, at approximately 12:30 a.m., officers received a report of a second shooting, later determined to have occurred at 973 Ozhigaw Road in Cloquet. The victim, a 27-year-old male from Cloquet, had a gunshot wound to the leg and was transferred to a hospital in Duluth. A police press release stated that it appears the incidents were related.

A suspect has been identified in connection with both shootings. An arrest warrant has been issued for 26-year-old Nicholas Joseph Ammesmaki for first-degree assault and possession of a firearm.

CPD Investigations Commander Adam Reed said Wednesday that Ammesmaki was still at large and should be considered armed and dangerous.

"There have been no more related incidents," Reed told the Pine Knot News on Wednesday. "The investigation is still ongoing and we are trying to determine a motive for the shooting."

Anyone who has information about Ammesmaki and where he might be is urged to call 911 and to avoid contact. He was last seen leaving the scene in a 2003 silver Pontiac Bonneville with a Minnesota license plate showing

DWL 944.

A search of Ammesmaki's criminal record shows he has been convicted of multiple felony crimes, including second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in 2012, third-degree burglary in 2013, terroristic threats in 2013, and felony in possession of a firearm in 2014, along with other lesser charges. He was sentenced to 27 months at the St. Cloud correctional facility in January 2014 following the burglary conviction.

Reed said the injury to the victim did not appear to be life-threatening.