MINNESOTA — A Bloomington man was charged with murdering his wife and attempting to kill two of his neighbors in a shooting during an evening of violence, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Jason M. Mesich, 48, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of his wife and two counts of second-degree attempted murder in the shooting of his two neighbors. He was expected to make his first court appearance Sept. 2.
At 11 p.m. Aug. 30, Bloomington police were called to the 8300 block of 15th Ave. S. and found Mesich’s wife dead from gunshots in the couple’s detached garage, according to the criminal complaint. The officers went into their house at 8340 15th Ave. S. looking for possible other victims and heard Mesich in the basement screaming, throwing things and firing shots. After a standoff that lasted some time, Mesich eventually surrendered.
Police then learned that shortly after he shot his wife, he went next door where the neighbors were putting items in a U-Haul trailer. He shot a 12-year-old girl in the head and shot an adult woman several times in the legs, the complaint states. The girl is unconscious and in critical condition and the woman is in serious condition.
From the criminal complaint: Officers responded to the hospital, where they spoke with the family of Victim 2 and Victim 3. M.S., the mother of Victim 2 and Victim 3, explained that they had been outside their house in the 8300 block of 15th Avenue, a residence that is located next door to Defendant’s home. M.S. stated that the family was moving items into a U-Haul which was parked in front of the house. M.S. and Victim 2 both stated that a man suddenly walked up to them and began shooting at them, injuring both Victim 2 and Victim 3, and shooting at and missing other family members, including M.S. M.S. stated that with the victims in a car and the UHaul, the family drove directly to the hospital. Victim 3 is currently in serious condition. Victim 2 is currently in critical condition and has not regained consciousness.
In a post-Miranda statement, Defendant claimed not to remember much of what had happened, but stated that he “probably” killed his wife, Victim 1. Defendant stated that he and Victim 1 would argue about how he did not think they had sex often enough, and they were in the garage arguing about that on Sunday night. Defendant stated that he “probably” went inside and got a gun. He stated that Victim 1 was leaning against her car, and swung at him, and he hit her in the collar bone area with two fists, and he had a gun and “maybe” Victim 1 said something like “just shoot me then.” Defendant stated, “I’m assuming that I did shoot her,” and when asked how many times he shot his wife, Defendant said, “I probably emptied it,” explaining that he turned the gun right to Victim 1’s face, and stating that if he was going to kill someone, he would want to empty the magazine, saying, “I want to make sure she is dead.” Regarding the neighbors who were shot, Defendant stated that they were not good neighbors, and when asked why 12 year old Victim 2 was shot, he stated that maybe it was the opportunity. Defendant further stated that he hated all children. When asked further about shooting the neighbors, Defendant stated, “I may have spotted them,” or that possibly they had seen what happened to Victim 1.
Police recovered numerous guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the house.
A GoFundMe for the victims can be found here.
