A Glyndon man fired a scoped rifle over the heads of three pheasant hunters in blaze orange on public land in Clay County, sending two of them running into cattails for cover, according to a criminal complaint.
Cole Lee Vanderlinden, 43, is charged in Clay County District Court with felony intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety and felony fifth-degree drug possession. The complaint was filed Oct. 26. When the complaint was filed, a judge ordered him detained.
Clay County deputies were sent at about 10:25 a.m. Oct. 25 after several 911 callers reported hunters in a field being shot at, the complaint says. While deputies were on the way, dispatchers relayed that more shots were being fired and that the shooter had fired an estimated 20 rounds. Deputies found Vanderlinden by a silver SUV holding an AR-style rifle with a scope. He put the rifle down when ordered but walked toward deputies arguing, then tensed up as they detained him.
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One hunter told deputies he and two friends were walking in a line through brush and cattails when he heard a bullet pass directly over his head, according to the complaint. One of the hunters fired a shot into the air to signal they were there. The group then yelled toward the houses for the shooter to stop.
The hunter said he walked to within about 50 yards and yelled again, but Vanderlinden looked at him and kept firing. When the hunter got closer and told him people were in the field, Vanderlinden said he had seen the hunters out there, called him a vulgar name and said they needed to “get over it,” the complaint says. The hunter said Vanderlinden kept shooting toward the other two as he walked back to his vehicle to call 911.
The other two hunters told deputies rounds went over their heads. They said they ran for the cattails when they saw Vanderlinden go to his vehicle because they feared he was going to reload. They estimated at least 15 shots were fired. One said he was scared for his life, according to the complaint.
A search of Vanderlinden’s property and vehicle turned up the AR-style rifle, a 20-gauge bolt-action shotgun, magazines and ammunition for both guns, the complaint says. Deputies also found two baggies of suspected methamphetamine weighing 0.6 and 0.4 grams that field-tested positive.
