Shots fired in Pinehurst; arrest made

Police shut down Pinehurst Park Saturday night after shots were fired, resulting in the arrest of a 16-year-old boy from Superior.

According to the Cloquet Police Department, at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, July 2, a Cloquet police officer was stopped by two young men and a woman and her teenage child in a car on Cloquet Avenue, who reported that someone had shot at them in Pinehurst Park. The car had damage consistent with gunfire.

They told the officer that minutes before, the two young men - ages 16 and 20 - had flagged down the 39-year-old woman, who was driving on Pinehurst Park Drive, telling her that someone was shooting at them. After the two got into the car, the car was hit with bullets. No one was struck by the gunfire.

Cloquet police chief Derek Randall said investigators don't think the victims and the shooter were known to each other, but police said there had been some "form of interaction at the park before the shooting."

Police blocked off the road at both ends of the park in central Cloquet into Sunday morning and the scene was processed. People driving by on Minnesota Highway 33 Saturday night could see the aftermath.

There were officers carrying guns and using flashlights to scan the ground. According to the news release from police, it was determined that more than 10 handgun rounds were fired.

On Sunday, detectives and patrol officers identified a 16-year-old male suspect and took him into custody. A firearm was recovered. He was taken to Arrowhead Juvenile Center in Duluth and was awaiting charges of second-degree attempted homicide.

"I do not believe there is any further danger to the public," Randall said. "Our suspect is in custody."

The Cloquet Police Department was assisted by the Carlton County Sheriff's Office and theFond du Lac Police Department. It remains an open and ongoing investigation.

The Carlton County Attorney's office said it could not answer any questions about the identity of the alleged shooter because it is a juvenile case.