Employees restrain active shooter at boat factory in Otter Tail County

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. -- Employees at the Lund Boat Company in New York Mills restrained an active shooter Thursday morning.

The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office says a 21-year-old man, an employee at Lund, is in custody pending criminal charges in relation to the incident.

Deputies responded to the plant shortly after 7 a.m.

Authorities say the suspect had been in a verbal confrontation with another employee when he pulled out a handgun and fired a round at the other employee, a 31-year-old man, but did not hit him.

The suspect then chased the victim outside and the victim got away.

One employee held the door to the building shut so the alleged shooter could not get back inside. Police say another round may have been fired while the suspect was outside.

The suspect encountered another employee while outside and fled. Three other employees on site stepped in to de-escalate the situation. Two of the employees were able to tackle and restrain the suspect while they waited for the police to arrive.

"The heroes in this are not law enforcement, it's the actual workers back at Lund Boats that stopped the actual threat from growing any more than what it already is," said Bobby Berndt, New York Mills' Chief of Police.

Berndt says his officers had been at Lund Boat Company not too long ago practicing an active shooter situation and called the situation "surreal."

Brunswick Corporation, which owns Lund Boat Company, released this statement regarding the incident:

The health and safety of our employees and the New York Mills community is our number one priority, and we are fortunate that there were no injuries during this morning's incident.  We are working very closely with local law enforcement in Otter Tail County and will continue to support them in their investigation.  All questions regarding the incident should be directed towards local law enforcement officials.  We want to thank our employees who worked quickly to respond to the situation and appreciate the outreach and support from the local community.  The plant is closed for day and will have increased security upon re-opening on Monday for the next regularly scheduled shift.  Our main focus is to support our employees during this time.