Jesse Werling, the man shot and killed by police in Roseville on Tuesday after authorities said he shot and injured an officer, has been charged with stealing a gun from his mother’s apartment last month .
Roseville police told police in North Hudson, Wis., there was an alert for Werling due to mental health warnings related to resisting police and danger.
It was unclear on Thursday whether the gun Werling, 53, allegedly took was the same gun he fired at officers and homes in Tuesday’s shootout with police.
The March 9 robbery report is part of a series of documents that show Werling’s struggles over the years, including a civil recognizance for mental illness and a property damage charge in Washington County after an incident in Stillwater. .
RIFLE FOUND AT THE SHOOTING SCENE
Officers were called to the 2900 block of West Owasso Boulevard, where Werling’s father owns a home, on Tuesday evening. Werling was firing multiple rounds as they arrived, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
As officers established a perimeter, Werling shot and wounded Roseville officer Ryan Duxbury. Roseville Police Chief Erika Scheider said the officer was punched in the face and is in stable condition. Duxbury, a three-year-old Roseville officer, remained hospitalized Thursday. (A GoFundMe account was created to support Duxbury and his longtime girlfriend.)
Werling fired more than 100 rounds at officers and homes, and the incident lasted about an hour, Scheider said Wednesday.
Roseville officers Bryan Anderson and Boua Chang shot and beat Werling, who died at Regions Hospital, according to the BCA. Both officers are on administrative leave, which is normal in a case involving lethal force.
Crime scene personnel recovered a .22 caliber lever-action sniper rifle near where Werling was shot, according to the BCA.
A BCA spokeswoman said she could not provide information as to whether the weapon was the rifle Werling’s mother said was stolen due to the active investigation and because analysis of the evidence is still ongoing.
Parts of the incident were captured by body cameras and squad cameras. When the BCA completes its investigation, it will provide information to prosecutors to review and determine whether charges should be filed.
CIVIL RECOGNITION PETITIONS
Roseville police have a file of “several mental health-related incidents” involving Werling, according to Scheider.
Minnesota court records show Werling was the subject of two motions for civil committal for mental illness. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was manic at the time of a 2019 court filing, which said he suffered from “paranoia and delusional beliefs”.
In 2019, he had recently jumped out of a moving car when his father tried to take him to the hospital, was aggressive towards hospital staff, exposed himself to neighborhood children, filmed and threatened neighbors and threw projectiles at rescue workers who were helping someone. otherwise, according to a judge’s summary of the case.
“He explains his behaviors as those of a brilliant and creative mind, but the behaviors and symptoms actually go beyond such a description and pose a danger to himself and others,” the court document continues. He was civilly committed to receive mental health care and medication.
When a civil commitment case was initiated in 2018, Werling agreed to voluntary treatment.
ARREST FOR DISORDERED CONDUCT
In 2015, Werling was arrested for domestic disorderly conduct against his ex-wife in western Wisconsin. She reported he called in the middle of the night and started yelling about their divorce, which he filed for in 2012. On the phone, Werling was ‘angry’, said ‘he could just crack’ and threatened to “take you away”. all to the underworld,” according to a report by a St. Croix County Sheriff’s Deputy.
His ex-wife said she feared for her safety and that of her two then-teenage children. She woke them up and they all left in case Werling showed up. He called the next morning to apologize, according to the report.
The district attorney asked Werling not to possess firearms as a condition of his bond. Werling told a judge during a hearing in 2016 that he had no guns, although he said his father did and they were locked away, according to a court transcript.
Werling was convicted of disorderly conduct due to a plea of no contest.
CRIME CASE
Werling had an ongoing criminal case against him in Washington County.
In December 2020, he was living in a Stillwater home owned by his father when a woman who lived in his building called 911 and said he repeatedly kicked a door in his home, according to a criminal complaint charging Werling with criminal damage to property and her petition for a harassment injunction against him.
“I don’t feel safe at home if I know he’s nearby,” the neighbor wrote in the petition. “This incident was completely rage-filled and erratic. How can we predict when its next violent outburst will occur? The police advised us not to let our children play outside because this man is dangerous.
She wrote that Werling was taken in for a 72-hour mental health wait after the incident at her doorstep. A judge issued the restraining order.
MISSING RIFLE THEFT REPORT
Last month, at around 2:30 a.m. on March 9, Werling showed up outside his mother’s apartment building in North Hudson, telling her it was an emergency. Werling’s mother, Susan Bacholke, told an officer that when her son came inside he ‘was delirious and made no sense, but appeared to have no urgency,’ the police report said. .
She said she listened to him talk for about 45 minutes before he left. Later that day, she noticed his gun cabinet had been opened and he had stolen a Browning .22 caliber rifle with a scope, according to the theft report filed around 7:30 p.m. the same day.
She told the officer she suspected he took it while she was in the bathroom. She said her son had mental health issues, including PTSD “due to a bad divorce five to six years earlier,” the report said.
She said he was staying on Owasso Boulevard in Roseville. The officer called Roseville Police for assistance and was told they had had several previous contacts with Werling and that there was “an alert on his name for mental health warnings regarding resistance to police and danger,” the police report read.
The Roseville officer said that based on the alert, “he did not feel comfortable approaching the residence if it was believed he was in possession of a rifle with a bezel,” the report said.
The North Hudson officer then called Werling’s cell phone number, but it went straight to voicemail, which was full so no message could be left.
“I will be compiling an attempted location of Werling and the firearm with a flag for caution due to his untreated mental health issues,” the officer wrote.
Two days later, the officer called Werling’s mother, who said she did not want to pursue the theft charges against her son.
“She said she was working with her father to retrieve the gun and calm him down,” an additional police report said.
Werling’s parents could not be reached and other relatives declined to comment.
