Charges: Pine Springs Teen Shot & Killed Teacher With Rifle, Drove Off
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A teenager accused of killing a teacher in a drive-by shooting in Washington County has been charged with second-degree murder.
David Frigaard, 46, was shot to death around 3:30 a.m. Saturday just blocks from the bar he owned, Frigaard's Bar.
The Washington County Attorney's office says that 19-year-old Bailey Jordan Garcia of Pine Springs is charged with the unintentional killing during a drive-by shooting.
The criminal complaint says Garcia had a fight with his father and brother and had been drinking before he parked near Stillwater Road and Mahtomedi Avenue. That's where he saw Frigaard's truck come to a stop sign.
The complaint says Garcia shot at the truck with his rifle and took off. He told police that he was intoxicated and suicidal as he fired his rifle.
He crashed his vehicle and was later apprehended by Washington County Sheriff's deputies.
Shortly after deputies responded to Garcia's crash, Frigaard was found slumped over the driving wheel of his truck, which had gone through a nearby ditch and stopped in front of a tree. Preliminary autopsy results indicate Frigaard's lungs and aorta were pierced by the gunshot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Some witnesses told authorities the under-aged Garcia was earlier at Frigaard's bar and became upset when Frigaard refused to serve him.
"We're looking very much into that right now. In fact, we've been working on it all weekend long," Washington County Attorney Peter Orput told WCCO on Monday.
WCCO's Laura Oakes Reports
Court papers say Garcia told deputies he was upset after getting into an argument with his father and brother.
He said he took a rifle, ammunition and a bottle of rum from home, and then drove to the Mahtomedi Fire Department, where he is a probationary firefighter.
There he took a tool that allowed him to cut through the rifle's trigger lock and then went to an intersection near Frigaard's bar, where he said he started firing shots at deer, initially.
The criminal complaint says Garcia admitted to placing his rifle in the driver's side window, aiming at a truck that went by, and then shooting. He said after the shot, he got scared, because he didn't know if he'd hit someone, and fled.
Garcia ended up crashing his vehicle into a tree. Neighbors discovered him acting strangely and saw a rifle and ammunition in the passenger seat.
Since the shooting, people have been leaving flowers, candles and notes outside Frigaard's Bar.
Besides being a business owner, Frigaard was a popular art teacher, at-risk teacher and track coach at Park High School in Cottage Grove. The school made counselors available for students Monday.
"There're teachers lined up around classrooms," Park High student Hannah Behr said. "They're hugging and crying, and you just can't walk past it. It's so hard."
Frigaard left behind a wife and three children.
The county attorney's office says Garcia could face up to nearly 31 years in prison if convicted. He is a student at Century College, studying firefighting. His bail has been set at $2 million.
Garcia's grandparents told WCCO they are shocked and deeply saddened for both families.
