Cloquet woman, Deer River man were victims in double homicide at Cloquet hotel

CLOQUET, MINN. — Shellby Trettel, self-described as a "front desk rep" at Super 8 on her Facebook page, was fatally shot while working Monday evening — one of two victims in the deadly incident that led to a rare, albeit brief, call for residents here to shelter in place while law enforcement officials looked for the shooter.

The other victim, a 35-year-old man from Deer River, Minn., was found dead in his car in the hotel's parking lot. Police said he had multiple gunshot wounds. The suspected shooter, a 32-year-old man from Ramsey, Minn., was dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found on the hotel grounds with a gun next to him.

Police in this northeastern Minnesota city near Duluth have not yet released the names of the victims or the suspect, but Trettel's father posted on social media Tuesday night that Trettel was a compassionate and "wonderfully colorful" person, who loved her siblings, friends and music.

"Shellby was a person you could always count on," Tim Trettel wrote, lost in a "senseless act of violence."

A friend posted an online fundraiser appeal to help the Trettel family with funeral expenses.

"Shellby Marie Trettel was just planning out her future, living life to the fullest, and most of all had a huge heart and cared deeply for all of those she knew," Kasey Murray posted on the GoFundMe site.

Murray declined to comment for this story.

Cloquet Police Chief Derek Randall said during a news conference that he expected to release the names by Wednesday morning, pending the notification of families.

A Super 8 employee called 911 about 6:30 p.m. Monday to report that a co-worker "looked like she had been attacked," according to a report from the Cloquet police department. She was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

While investigating, officers found the second victim inside a car on the property and sent out an "active shooter incident" warning, reporting that "several" victims were involved. It was called off within the hour, after police determined — through surveillance video that caught much of what happened — that the shooter was also dead.

The incident drew an enormous law enforcement presence, including Homeland Security and Emergency Management personnel.

"Currently, there's no information yet on the motive for the shootings, or if there was any connection between the suspect and the victims," Randall said.

He could not remember a time in his more than 20-year career that a shelter-in-place order had been issued in this city of about 12,700 people.

Mariah Willie, who works at the Bearaboo Coffee Escape, said she grew up near Trettel. They rode the same bus and went to the same camp when they were kids. Willie remembered Trettel, two years older, comforting her when she was homesick. As students at Cloquet High School in 2018, Willie and Trettel were cast in the ensemble of the school's production of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." She remembered getting to know Trettel better when the cast went to Perkins together.

"She had a great sense of humor," Willie said.

In TikTok videos, Trettel sang karaoke to "Wagon Wheel" at the Rustic Bar in West Duluth, spent time with a bearded dragon named Nova, and in a video recorded with a friend, described her own fashion style as "emo teen daughter."

By midmorning Tuesday, BCA investigators had pulled out of the parking lot at the hotel off Big Lake Road, tucked behind an Aldi and near a Perkins. The parking lot was mostly empty and a woman minding the automatic doors said the hotel's management did not have a comment. Later, a sign on the door directed guests to the AmericInn across the parking lot.

An employee and guests at the neighboring hotel also declined comment.

At Aldi, shopper Kristi Steenson said Tuesday morning that it's time to change the culture of violence and hate.

"I'm incredibly sad for the victim," she said. "Thoughts and prayers aren't enough."

At a news conference Tuesday in White Bear Lake, where Gov. Tim Walz was doing other business, he called the situation tragic and said he was thankful there were not more deaths.

"Anytime we see this type of senseless violence, it is tragic," he said. "In a community like this, the chances that someone knows someone involved is very high, and that makes it more personalized. We have to work on reducing gun violence. If we can learn something from this, we will. We can't live in a world where this is a normal occurrence."

Star Tribune staff writer Tim Harlow contributed to this story.