(KNSI) — Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes issued a statement after he charged 18-year-old Dillon Lawrence Tilbury with attempted second degree intentional murder and first degree assault for the shooting at the compost site adjacent to Montissippi Park in Monticello on January 16th.
Lutes said, “This level of violence in our community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I want the public to know this was not a random act of violence but a targeted act aimed at a specific individual. This is an ongoing investigation; not allowing me to say too much, but the people you associate with and the activity you engage in impact your level of safety.
“I want to thank the citizens in the area who communicated with the police to help locate Tilbury. I commend the efforts of my law enforcement partners with the Wright County ShSheriff’sffice and the Minnesota State Patrol who immediately tracked Tilbury to where he was hiding.”
According to police, at about 8:30 p.m., they were called to the Montissippi Park compost site for a shooting. They found 44-year-old Jade Nickels of Monticello on the road near the facility’s entrance. He had been shot multiple times and had also been assaulted. Nickels was rushed to North Memorial Hospital in the Twin Cities and was said to be in serious but stable condition.
Witnesses say Tilbury fled the scene, but Lutes says deputies tracked him to a home where they used a robot to open the garage service door where Tilbury was hiding and then flew a small drone into the garage to obtain surveillance footage inside the garage. The ShSheriff’sffice then deployed K9 Chase in the garage, who alerted to a trunk of a vehicle in the garage where Tilbury was hiding. Tilbury surrendered once Chase aggressively barked directly at the trunk.
Tilbury made his initial court appearance Friday morning. Bail was set at $450,000 with conditions or $750,000 without conditions. Tilbury will appear next in court at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 31st.
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