Still no motive, connection between victims, suspect in Cloquet shootings

DULUTH — The Cloquet Police Department has not yet found a motive for the fatal shootings at the Super 8 earlier this month that ended with three dead, including the gunman, and briefly shut down the city 20 miles southwest of here.

There is also not yet a clear connection between the shooter and victims Shellby M. Trettel, a local who was working at the front desk that night, or Patrick J. Roers of Deer River, Minn. a guest who was in his truck listening to music. Nicholas E. Lenius, a 32-year-old from Ramsey, Minn., was found outside on the motel’s east side with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a weapon close to his body.

“Our investigation is ongoing and we are working to uncover all relevant details surrounding this incident,” Cloquet Police Chief Derek Randall said in a news release.

Randall said the investigation is focused on digital evidence from the scene. Officials used surveillance video on the night of the shootings to determine what happened — and that it was safe to end the rare active shooter alert it had issued. According to one of the search warrants investigators filed in Carlton County Court, Lenius was also “actively recording” from inside his Ford F-150.

Randall said they are anticipating final autopsies and toxicology reports in the next 4-6 weeks.

“We expect these findings to help us understand the incident better,” he said.

Officers were called to the Super 8 motel in the early evening of Jan. 8 when an employee found Trettel, 22, with a gunshot wound to her head in a surveillance room off of the lobby, according to court filings. She later died at St. Luke’s Hospital. Roers, 35, also died of a gunshot wound to his head. He was found in his truck, which was facing Lenius’ truck, according to a search warrant.