Law enforcement was outside a Mankato apartment building and in a standoff Wednesday following gunfire from a man charged with abducting his toddler son from the mother's home nearly a month ago.
The standoff began about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 2200 block of Marwood Drive when officers attempted to apprehend 29-year-old Walter Brown, who is charged with snatching 2-year-old Koran Brown on March 24 after threatening to kill the mother, police said.
As for the status of the boy, Deputy Director of Public Safety Matt DuRose said late Wednesday morning, "We do not have custody of the child, nor do we have confirmed information about his current location."
A pursuing officer drew gunfire from Brown as he fled into an apartment building, according to police. The officer was not injured.
Law enforcement "continues to attempt to negotiate a safe resolution," read a statement issued Wednesday morning.
Brown was charged in Blue Earth County District Court with deprivation of parental rights and violation of a no-contact order.
According to the charges:
Koran's mother contacted police on March 29 and said Walter Brown took off with Koran, one of three children the two have together. She has custodial rights. She said Brown entered the apartment through a sliding glass door after she refused to let him in the front door. Brown grabbed Koran and some of the boy's clothes and walked out.
The mother said she started "blowing up his phones," and Brown would reply with threats and suggested he would kill himself. Eventually, he ignored her calls and blocked her on social media. She said it looked like he came back and retrieved more of Koran's clothes and other belongings.
A police trace of Brown's phone indicated it was at an airport south of Knoxville, Tenn., on March 30, then a Memphis airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Surveillance video failed to show Brown at the Twin Cities airport.
The no-contact order stems from charges that a drunken Brown grabbed a knife and threatened to kill his children and their mother in August in the family's home. He went on to stab holes in the wall and a door, according to felony assault charges.
The mother called 911 as Brown was breaking a toilet, the bathroom mirror and other items, the charges read. Brown violently resisted the officers, at one point kicking one of them in the chest, until he was subdued and arrested, the criminal complaint continued.
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