Suspect Charged In Weekend Mentor Shooting

CROOKSTON, MN—Here’s an update to a story R&J News has been following.  Formal charges have now been filed against a man accused in a weekend shooting in Mentor.  79-year-old Leslie Manford Anderson has been charged in Polk County with attempted second degree murder and six other felony counts, including first degree assault, second degree assault and first degree burglary.  According to the criminal complaint, Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a Mentor residence at 2:48am Sunday after a report that a man had been shot in the head.  Investigators say the property owner, 55-year-old Shawn Alan Qualley of Mentor, had gone to the farm after a trail camera showed a trespasser.  The complaint goes on to say that Anderson came out of a shop on the property, pushed Qualley and shot him with a handgun…and then shooting at two women who were with him.  Qualley survived the shooting and was taken to a Grand Forks hospital.  Anderson later told deputies he believed Qualley had been stealing from him and the gun went off during a struggle.  Anderson remains in custody at the Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston pending further court proceedings.

(Valley News Live)