After firing a shotgun and getting into the closed Sherburne County Government Center on Saturday morning, Zha Kong Vang checked several locked doors and went back outside, where he approached motorists while carrying the gun and a knife, charges say.
The criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Sherburne County District Court against Vang, 51, of Elk River, says video surveillance from inside the building in Elk River showed Vang trying to gain access to the locked court area. He then checked locked doors in a hallway that leads to the law enforcement and jail areas of the building, which includes more than 500 federal detainees and inmates.
The complaint does not say whether he agreed to an interview with law enforcement afterward. No motive is mentioned.
On June 30, Vang was ruled incompetent to face Sherburne County charges stemming from an August incident in which he allegedly threatened several relatives with a gun in Big Lake Township. A week earlier, after an evaluation was completed, Vang’s attorney filed a notice of defense, citing Vang’s mental illness and intoxication.
Judge Kristi Stanislawski suspended the case following the June 30 hearing, and signed off on his conditional release from jail. He was released the same day.
Three days later, on July 3, a county prosecutor filed a notice of intent to prosecute when Vang regains competency. A review hearing was scheduled for Dec. 10.
According to Tuesday’s complaint:
Just before 9 a.m., a jail employee called dispatch and reported that a male had just broken through a door of the government center, located on U.S. 10 west of U.S. 169, and was walking around the building with a gun.
About three minutes later, dispatch received a call from a woman who reported that she and her daughter were parked in the lot when a man holding a long gun walked up to her car and hit it several times.
“She later reported to law enforcement that she believed she and her child were about to die,” the complaint states.
Cmdr. Ben Zawacki and Capt. Ryan Broich of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office responded and saw Vang walking on the north side of the building while carrying a long gun.
After repeated commands to drop the gun, Vang placed it on the ground and was arrested. He also had a large sheathed knife similar in size to a machete.
Video surveillance showed Vang shooting out a door window, then firing a second shot at an interior window in the building, causing damage to another window and desk area.
Once inside the building’s second set of doors, video surveillance showed Vang unsuccessfully trying to get through doors and a hallway.
After he left through another door, he fired a round at a maintenance building that damaged exterior and interior walls.
Video showed Vang approach the woman’s car and strike the front passenger window four times with the barrel and butt of the firearm before she backed out and left the lot.
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Video also showed Vang approach a county van parked in the lot and slash the front tire, flattening it.
He then approached a car while carrying the shotgun in his left hand and the knife in his right hand. He jabbed the knife into the open window of the car at the face/neck area of the driver, who sped away.
The driver told law enforcement that he heard someone yelling as he left the government center, but paid no attention. He said he was in his car with his window half open, looked up and saw a man yelling at him while holding a machete. The man jabbed the machete fully into his car toward his face.
“(The man) stated that he drove off because he was scared and in a panic,” the complaint said.
Law enforcement found Vang’s car parked on an entrance sidewalk next to the government center. An explosive detection K-9 and bomb technician were called to the scene and the car was cleared.
Vang was charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal damage to property, possessing a dangerous weapon in a courthouse and three counts of second-degree assault.
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