Man suspected of fatal shooting near Brainerd arrested after kidnapping woman, 4 children

A man believed to have killed one person and kidnapped a pregnant woman and her four children is now in custody following a search for him Friday morning.

The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office said 35-year-old Chad Aanerud was taken into custody at 7:15 a.m. Friday following a traffic stop in Morrison County.

Inside his vehicle were a woman and her four children, who had reportedly been abducted hours earlier. A statewide Amber Alert was issued, but it was lifted when all five were found unharmed.

According to the sheriff’s office, the kidnapping is related to a fatal shooting in Oak Lawn Township, east of Brainerd.

Sheriff’s deputies say they responded to a shooting in the township on Loerch Road around 1:50 a.m. Friday and discovered that 62-year-old Lyle Maske had died from a gunshot wound.

Aanerud was determined to be a suspect in Maske’s murder and is also suspected of setting fire to a house on the property, authorities said.

The sheriff’s office later learned that Aanerud allegedly kidnapped his 33-year-old girlfriend and her four children, ages 3 to 14.

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Aanerud grabbed a gun and fired a shot into the house where the five were staying, forcing them to leave with him in his vehicle.

Law enforcement officials said a 66-year-old Morrison County man heard the Amber Alert and saw the vehicle this morning in his neighborhood about five miles outside of Little Falls.

Officers from the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office and Minnesota State Patrol stopped the vehicle carrying the suspect and children near the intersection of 183rd Street and 175th Avenue.

Medics checked on the children and mother, and the suspect was arrested without incident.

Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen said they are still trying to determine why the suspect was in that area, and asked people in the area to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

“I would like to express my gratitude for all the collective efforts of everyone involved,” Larsen said. “The quick response certainly made a difference in this situation.”

The investigation is still active and authorities will release more information as they continue the investigation.

Someone bringing a child must meet certain criteria before an Amber Alert can be issued. Learn more about the criteria and sequence of events for Amber Alerts in Minnesota here. You can also read it online HERE.