Inset: Landon Terrance Tuomala (St. Louis County Jail). Background: The street where Tuomala tried to kill his father's girlfriend in Aurora, Minn. (Google Maps).
A Minnesota man will spend a decade behind bars after trying and failing to shoot and kill his father's girlfriend with a rifle.
Earlier this week, Landon Terrance Tuomala, 24, was convicted of one count of attempted murder in the second degree with intent – not premeditated, by Judge Michelle Anderson following a stipulated evidence trial, the St. Louis County Attorney's Office announced.
In quick fashion, the judge sentenced the defendant to 120 months in prison, departing from the 173-month sentence suggested in state guidelines. The departure came over the objection of prosecutors.
The underlying incident occurred on Aug. 26, 2024, at a residence on East Third Avenue South in Aurora — a small mining town located roughly 60 miles north of Duluth.
First, a 911 call came in about an unseen woman shouting, "Call 911," according to a criminal complaint obtained by Superior, Wisconsin-based NBC affiliate KBJR and Chisholm, Minnesota-based CBS affiliate KRII, which collectively broadcast as Northern News Now.
Second, Tuomala himself called 911 to say that he just shot someone but was no longer armed, according to law enforcement.
At the scene, East Range Police Department officers learned the defendant had fired a .30-30 — a lever-action rifle — at the victim after she entered the residence she shared with Tuomala and his father.
While walking inside the house just before 7 p.m., the woman saw the defendant training his weapon on her, so she turned around and ran, police said. In the fraught moments that fast ensued, the woman screamed for someone to call 911, and then, luckily, tripped and fell just as the bullet fired from the weapon sailed over her body.
As police arrived, Tuomala exited the house with his hands raised, still believing he had shot the woman, police said. The defendant said the victim got up and ran away after the shot was fired.
Other officers found the woman "visibly upset and shaking" in a nearby pickup truck. She had been escorted to safety by neighbors who said they heard a "ba-boom" sound followed by screams, according to court documents obtained by the Duluth News Tribune.
Later on, the woman recounted the events to law enforcement. She said she could not remember if Tuomala said anything as the long gun was pointed at her, just that she ran. Then, after she tripped and fell just in time, she got up to find the defendant still pointing the gun at her.
"[The] victim said she was terrified and thought she was going to die," police wrote in the charging document.
The defendant told police he called 911 after he saw the victim fall to the ground in front of his father's house.
Police later found a bullet in a neighboring home.
The victim told police Tuomala had recently moved in with her and his father after being told to leave two different treatment facilities.
During the bench trial, the judge determined the defendant did not have a mental illness defense, but justified the sentencing departure based on his lack of substantial capacity for judgment and a mental or physical impairment when the shooting occurred, prosecutors said.
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