Lindstrom Man Acquitted In Fatal Chisago County Shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 44-year-old Lindstrom man was acquitted of murder on Tuesday in the fatal February 2017 shooting death of a 62-year-old man after a dispute over lake access.

Carl Anderson had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Donn Allan Johnson.

Court documents state Anderson called 911 after the incident, saying he had shot someone. Authorities arrived to the scene on Lindo Trail in North Chisago Township, and found Johnson lying on the ground next to a four-wheeler. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities searched Anderson's truck and found a 9mm handgun, along with a spent shell casing on the ground near his truck. Johnson was not armed.

Anderson told police he had given several people permission to fish from his mother's property on Sunrise Lake in the area. When he stopped in a local bait shop later, an employee said Johnson called the store and complained about people parking on his land to access the lake. Anderson agreed to meet Johnson -- who he said he has known for most of his life from living in the area -- to discuss the issue.

When Anderson arrived in the area, he says he found Johnson standing near his four-wheeler talking to a man near one of the parked trucks. Anderson says he was in the driver seat of his truck talking to Johnson, who he says was agitated and made a threatening statement. When Johnson walked toward the truck, Anderson said he fired his pistol into Johnson's chest.