A man who died after exchanging gunfire with police in a Roseville neighborhood had documented mental health issues and enough access to firearms that officers didn’t feel comfortable approaching his home last month.
Multiple law enforcement sources have confirmed to 5 INVESTIGATIONS that Jesse Werling, 53, was the person who shot at Roseville officers and homes near West Owasso Boulevard and Victoria Street North around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. A responding officer was shot in the face but is listed in stable condition, according to Roseville Police Chief Erika Scheider.
Werling later died at the hospital, according to police.
Roseville police had responded to Werling’s home about 15 times in the past and had previously placed an alert on his behalf for “mental health precautions related to police resistance and danger,” according to a police report obtained by 5 INVESTIGATED.
Court records in Minnesota and Wisconsin reveal that Werling had a history of violent outbursts and threatening behavior. Werling had been committed twice for mental health treatment, once in 2018 and again in 2019, and had been declared mentally ill, which should have prevented him from owning a gun.
Police vehicles are seen Tuesday, April 5, 2022 near the intersection of Victoria Street North and West Owasso Boulevard in Roseville. (KSTP)
Officers said they “didn’t feel comfortable” approaching Werling last month because they worried he might have a rifle with a scope, stolen from his mother’s gun safe in his North Hudson apartment.
Werling’s mother reported the incident to police on March 9 after he showed up on her doorstep at 2:30 a.m. acting “delusional.”
Werling was never charged with stealing the rifle. It’s unclear if that rifle was used to fire more than 100 rounds at police and neighboring homes during the Tuesday night shooting.
Police issued a shelter-in-place order and called in the SWAT unit. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is still investigating.
“We are still trying to figure out what the reason is and what exactly led to this event,” Scheider said Wednesday.
Werling was well known to law enforcement from suburban St. Paul to western Wisconsin. Stillwater police responded to a call in December 2020 after Werling tried to break down a neighbor’s steel door while a mother and 2-year-old were hiding in his basement.
“His past behavior has proven to be varied and erratic,” the family told a Washington County judge.
The court issued a harassment restraining order against Werling, who was facing a charge of criminal damage to property in the first degree. His next court appearance was scheduled for May 4.
In 2018, Werling showed up to a Good Friday service at Family of Christ Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, Wisconsin wearing a traffic vest and multiple cameras, police reports show. The pastor said Werling, who was “a churchgoer,” was acting “a little more abnormal than usual.”
Asked about the Roseville shooting by 5 INVESTIGATORS, Pastor Chad Czischke responded, “It’s sad to know it came to this.”
Werling was also arrested in 2015 after threatening to take his ex-wife to the “underworld,” court records show. Using the St. Croix County diversion program, Werling avoided a major disorderly persons charge and was instead found guilty of an ordinance violation.
Prosecutors in that case pushed to keep the guns away from Werling.
Court transcripts show Werling said he had no guns, but his father did, and they locked them up.
“So until I’m done with this and until I probably figure out what’s going on next door,” the judge told Werling, “no guns.”
