Charges outline negotiation with armed Hopkins man who threatened to shoot UnitedHealthcare building

A Hopkins man with a history of threatening behavior and criminal convictions was charged with four felonies Tuesday after Minnetonka police officers and FBI officials said he was threatening to shoot the UnitedHealthcare building in Minnetonka and was found with a loaded .38 revolver in his front seat.

Ian Stanley Wagner, 26, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with being a felon in illegal possession of a firearm and threats of violence. Court and police records show the FBI was in active contact with Wagner on Monday morning after he called 911 and asked a dispatcher if they wanted to see “an evacuation on the news” and that he was going to shoot the building if pending criminal charges against him were not dropped.

An FBI official was in negotiation with Wagner when Minnetonka police were contacted. When law enforcement officials arrived on the scene, they could see that Wagner was holding onto a firearm. During negotiations, Wagner said he would not be taken alive but surrendered without incident 50 minutes after making contact with 911.

After police searched his vehicle they found the revolver loaded with five bullets and 16 additional rounds in a baggie on the passenger seat.

Minnetonka police knew of Wagner’s history of mental health issues and threatening behavior. Wagner pleaded guilty in January to two threats of violence felonies and was sentenced to 120 days on house arrest and three years of probation. He has an open misdemeanor case in Hennepin County over a restraining order violation in 2024. In 2022, he was charged in St. Louis County with violating a restraining order.

Almost every criminal charge and civil action against Wagner — including several restraining orders — stem from his harassment of a man he knew while attending college at the University of Minnesota Duluth. A series of court filings show that Wagner would stalk the man’s friends on social media and post their photos and addresses. He also showed up at the man’s house and left “old rusty ax heads” and damaged the man’s car.

A petition for a restraining order filed by the man against Wagner in 2024, after a previous restraining order had expired, notes that Wagner “has a completely false belief we are related” and that Wagner told a Minnesota state trooper after he was pulled over in Willow River that he was headed to the Twin Cities to confront the man, who Wagner said was his half-brother.

UnitedHealth Group said in a memo to workers that there’s no reason to believe Wagner had any specific grievances against its UnitedHealthcare business, which is the nation’s largest health insurer.

Even so, the message to employees sent late Monday and obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune directs workers to an employee assistance program as well as internal leaders who can help schedule appointments with licensed counselors, if needed.

“We understand this incident may have impacted you in a number of possible ways, and we want to remind you of our emotional well-being support resources,” the company said in the memo.

The incident, which for a time prompted a lockdown inside the company’s two-building campus in Minnetonka, has further rattled nerves at a business that was rocked in December by the killing of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson on a public sidewalk in New York City.

Law enforcement officials said Monday evening that their early investigation found no indication of specific grievances held by Wagner against UnitedHealthcare.

“Based on what we know of the situation, the individual made no demands against UnitedHealthcare,” the company said in its message. “There is no reason to believe there were specific grievances against the company.

“As we continue to learn more about the situation near our Minnetonka offices [Monday], the safety and security of our employees remains our top priority. ... We are grateful that law enforcement and our onsite security team acted quickly to resolve the situation.”