Duluth Man Charged With Second-Degree Murder, Two Additional Felonies in Shooting Death of St. Cloud Professor

(KNSI) – The Duluth man accused of shooting and killing a St. Cloud State University professor on Sunday has been charged with three felonies.

The Stearns County Attorney’s Office says 45-year-old Jason Robert Beckman appeared in court today and is now charged with second-degree intentional murder, felony theft of a motor vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His bail is set at $2 million.

The criminal complaint alleges Beckman stole a 2004 Audi sedan from a parking lot in Waite Park Sunday morning and crashed it in the 2600 block of Island View Drive in St. Cloud, the same block where 68-year-old Edward Anthony Ward lived. The crash rendered the sedan inoperable.

The criminal complaint says Beckman was carrying a loaded .45 caliber handgun — Beckman has been convicted of third-degree assault twice in Redwood County and can not legally possess a firearm or ammunition. The complaint alleges Beckman used the gun to shoot Ward twice at close range while Ward was standing in the front entryway of his home.

Authorities located and arrested Beckman around 7 a.m. Sunday when someone called the St. Cloud Police Department to report that a man was carrying a handgun in the 1200 block of 4th Avenue South. Police say Beckman admitted to shooting the victim.

Ward died after first responders took him to St. Cloud Hospital Sunday morning.

SCPD has previously described this incident as random, saying Beckman had no connections to Ward or the neighborhood.

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