DETROIT LAKES — Jeffrey Scott Gunderson, 29, of Detroit Lakes has been sentenced in Becker County District Court on a felony charge of threats of violence – reckless disregard for risk.
According to court records, on Nov. 9, 2021, law enforcement was dispatched to the local Minnesota Department of Corrections office.
A Detroit Lakes police officer met with a Department of Corrections agent, who stated he had just met with Gunderson, who was newly released from prison.
The agent met with Gunderson to discuss his conditions on intensive supervised release.
During the meeting, Gunderson said he was upset with the DOC and certain DOC agents, including the reporting agent, and made comments about assaulting his own brother.
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Gunderson then specifically stated that he had plans of going to Running’s in Moorhead and buying an AR-15 (automatic rifle). Gunderson then stated he was going to come back to Detroit Lakes and shoot up Rossman Elementary School.
He said that he was going to walk around with a bullet resistant vest and expressed no concerns of getting in a shootout with police, because he wanted to do a “suicide by cop.”
After meeting with Gunderson, the agent was so concerned that he waited in the area to monitor Gunderson until police arrived, arrested him, and took him to the Becker County Jail.
On March 15, Becker County District Court Judge Gretchen Thilmony sentenced Gunderson to 36 months in prison at St. Cloud. Credit was granted for 492 days served in jail.
He was ordered to pay $200 in fines and court fees from his prison pay.
In a separate case, Gunderson was also ordered to pay $4,800 in restitution for using a mop bucket to break the window of his cell at the Becker County Jail.
He was charged with felony first-degree criminal damage to property for the Nov. 20, 2021 incident.
According to an amended criminal complaint, prior to the incident, jail staff told Gunderson he could stay in his current cell, per his request, if he cleaned it. Gunderson agreed and was given a broom, a mop, and a bucket.
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A short time later jail staff discovered that Gunderson had thrown the mop bucket, overturned the garbage, and bent the broom in half. Gunderson pointed out that he broke the window by throwing the mop bucket at it. He was then transferred to another cell.
On April 12, 2022 the jail received a quote of $4,800, excluding installation, to replace the broken security glass.
He was sentenced to 21 months in prison on that charge, to be served concurrently with the 36-month sentence, and ordered to pay $200 in fines and court fees.
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