Rochester Man Accused of Killing Dad, Shooting at Neighbor
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A 35-year-old man is charged after authorities say he fatally shot his father before breaking into another home and firing at a neighbor minutes later in Rochester.
Both incidents unfolded around 9:35 p.m. on Jan. 25 before the suspect was taken into custody following a violent struggle inside a nearby residence.
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Michael Joseph Milbrandt, of Rochester, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree murder while committing a burglary. Prosecutors say the charges stem from two connected scenes roughly two and a half miles apart.
Officers were first dispatched to a parking lot on Marion Road Southeast after a report of a shooting. When police arrived, they found a man lying in the snow with a gunshot wound to the head. Two nearby witnesses reported hearing loud arguing followed by a single gunshot. One witness said he saw a lone person wearing a hoodie leave the area in a blue large-model pickup truck, while another said she heard someone plead, “Please don’t shoot,” just before the gunshot.
Investigators later learned the victim was Milbrandt’s father. The shooting occurred near a property where Milbrandt had rented a basement unit through Airbnb earlier that night. Family members later told police the father and son had planned to meet there to talk after concerns were raised about Milbrandt’s behavior and drug use.
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While officers were still responding to the shooting, another emergency call came in from a home about two and a half miles south of the first scene. The caller reported an armed intruder had entered the house with a handgun. Officers arriving at that residence heard a man screaming for help from the basement and went downstairs, where they found the homeowner wrestling with Milbrandt. Officers were able to take Milbrandt into custody.
Inside the home, police found a tan Glock handgun, a small pool of blood and what appeared to be a bullet hole in a wall-mounted television. A shattered sliding glass door was found on the main level, along with a 9mm shell casing on a nearby deck. A pickup truck matching the description given by the witness at the earlier shooting scene was found parked next to the home.
The homeowner told police he had been in the basement with his wife when he heard a loud crash upstairs. When he went to investigate, he encountered Milbrandt coming toward him with a pistol equipped with a flashlight. According to the complaint, Milbrandt fired at the homeowner but missed. The two began fighting, and during the struggle Milbrandt again put the gun near the man’s head and fired, missing a second time. The homeowner yelled for his wife to get their child out of the house as she grabbed the child and fled outside into the cold.
The homeowner told officers he knew Milbrandt personally and described him as a friend and neighbor who he said had been spiraling due to drug use. He said he had spoken earlier that day with Milbrandt’s father about trying to get him help.
Milbrandt’s father died later that night at Saint Mary’s Hospital from his injuries. Family members told police that Milbrandt had been asked to leave his home two days earlier because of increasingly erratic and paranoid behavior.
Milbrandt remains in custody following an initial court appearance last week. A judge set bail at $1 million with no conditions. If convicted, the second-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, while each attempted first-degree murder count has a potential sentence of up to 20 years.
