Hastings Man Charged in Domestic Incident, Standoff

May 23

A Hastings man is accused of trying to kill a woman during a domestic incident earlier this week, prompting a widespread police response and hours-long standoff.

Prosecutors charged 51-year-old Martin Frederick Branshaw on Thursday, May 22, with one count of second-degree attempted murder with intent and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

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According to the complaint, deputies with the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office responded Tuesday, May 20, to a report of a domestic assault in progress at a residence on Ravenna Trail. The woman who called 911 told dispatchers that Branshaw had pulled out a gun and held it to her head. She said she was barricaded in an upstairs bedroom while Branshaw tried to force his way inside.

When deputies arrived, they used a ladder to help the woman escape through a second-story window.

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She later told a detective that Branshaw had been drinking and became verbally aggressive late Monday night. At one point, she said he retrieved a pistol from a gun safe near the bed, grabbed her by the hair and pressed the barrel to her temple. She said she heard a "click" when he pulled the trigger but the gun didn’t fire.

“I shouldn’t be alive,” she reportedly told investigators. “If he had one in the gun, I’d be dead.”

After she fled to her son’s bedroom and barricaded the door, she called a friend and said Branshaw was trying to break in. She described jamming a chair under the door and preparing to jump out of the window before deputies arrived.

Deputies reported that Branshaw remained inside the home and at one point yelled that he had a gun and would shoot. South Metro SWAT was called in and eventually forced entry into the residence. They found Branshaw in a second-floor bedroom with self-inflicted cuts to his neck. He was taken to Regions Hospital in Saint Paul for treatment.

Investigators located a loaded HK .45 caliber pistol under a couch cushion in the home. The gun had a magazine loaded with ten rounds but did not have one in the chamber. A second magazine containing nine rounds was found nearby.

Branshaw is being held without bail and is scheduled for a court appearance June 12.

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