Prison Sentence For Man Who Shot Rochester Apartment Manager

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The man who shot and wounded the manager of a downtown Rochester apartment complex last year is headed to prison.

61-year-old Robin Lawrence Helmueller went before an Olmsted County judge in April and entered a guilty plea to a charge of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. His guilty plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors that resulted in the dismissal of a second felony assault charge.

The shooting in the manager's office at Park Towers Apartments occurred on October 20th. Rochester Police responded to the building along North Broadway and found the 51-year-old manager suffering from a gunshot wound to her arm. Another employee of the apartment complex had been struck on the head.

Court documents indicated that the responding officers found Helmueller being restrained by the wounded employees and two other people.

According to the charges against Helmueller, he pulled out a handgun from a backpack and fired it at the manager during a meeting in which he was informed that he was responsible for paying to fix some property damage to another tenant's residence. Helmueller had been accused of damaging the door to another man's apartment because he suspected he had been stealing from him. The police report on the incident described Hellmueller's claims as unsubstantiated.

Following the shooting, another employee rushed into the office when she heard the manager screaming and she was struck on the head with a handle of the firearm when both women tried to restrain him. The criminal complaint says two other women then joined the altercation and were able to subdue and disarm the gunman.

The apartment manager was transported to St. Mary's Hospital and was treated for the non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

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