GhLinks Media
A man responding to the pleas of four children was shot and killed Friday morning, allegedly by a Brainerd man who abducted the children along with their mother before he was arrested a short time later.
Chad Aanerud, 35, of Brainerd is suspected of fatally shooting Lyle Maske, 62, before kidnapping a pregnant Nikkole Dobson, 33, and the children at gunpoint.
The mayhem sparked a statewide Amber Alert that was called off after “a very astute Morrison County resident” saw a minivan that matched the alert and called 911, said Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang.
Aanerud, a seven-time convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms, was arrested by a Morrison County deputy and a state trooper within an hour after the alert was sounded.
Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan declined to comment on the anticipated charges against Aanerud, who was being held in the Crow Wing County jail.
“Having an Amber Alert working like that, that’s the way it’s supposed to work and we are very pleased with the outcome,” said Klang. “Otherwise … the turnout could have been a lot different.”
Dobson and her children were found in the minivan traumatized but otherwise unharmed, Klang said. “We’re trying to help with giving them the right care.”
Crow Wing County Sgt. Kris Brose said the sequence of events was unclear in the “pretty unusual investigation,” but he explained the chaos that led up to fatal shooting of Maske and the kidnapping of the Dobsons around 1:50 a.m. Friday.
Dobson’s four children, ranging in age from 3 to 14, ran down Loerch Road, a rural road east of Brainerd, to Maske’s house for help. Maske went to Dobson’s home and was confronted by Aanerud in the driveway, where he was fatally shot.
Aanerud then went to Maske’s house, where the children had fled. Aanerud fired a warning shot to force the children inside the minivan, Brose said, and then drove south with Dobson and her children.
Brose said Aanerud also burned down a home on Dobson’s property, though it was unclear whether that happened before or after the shooting. Area fire departments responded to the scene, which was processed by the State Fire Marshal and investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Sheriff’s Office, State Patrol and local police.
“He was helping the woman and her kids out and protecting them, or trying to,” Borg said. “He was one of the most generous, compassionate, helpful men I’ve known. He was a beautiful person, inside and out. He helped anybody and everybody and never asked for anything in return.”
Barb Groshong, whose sister Lois was married to Maske and who lives between the Dobson and Maske homes, said her sister was having a difficult time dealing with the situation.
“That’s all he was doing, is trying to help,” Groshong said of her brother-in-law. “It’s something that should never have happened.”
