Dakota County man sentenced to three years in prison for firing gun in apartment while on meth

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

A Dakota County man has been sentenced to three years in prison for shooting through the ceiling and walls of his apartment while high on meth. Deputies tried to coax him to surrender over five hours one night last fall.

Brian David Lusk, 39, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and on Wednesday was convicted of the charge and sentenced by Judge Timothy J. McManus. A charge of intentionally discharging a firearm that endangered safety was dismissed by prosecutors. Lusk also received credit for 219 days already served in jail.

In a letter to the judge prior to sentencing, Lusk’s mother wrote that her son has struggled with his mental health for years and used alcohol and drugs “to relieve the pain.” She asked the judge to sentence him to treatment at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge in Minneapolis instead of time in prison.

According to the criminal complaint, sheriff deputies were dispatched to an apartment building in the 19000 block of Lena Avenue in Marshan Township, just south of Hastings, about 10 p.m. on Sept. 21 after a man, later identified as Lusk, whispered to a 911 dispatcher that he could hear people upstairs planning to kill him.

When officers arrived, it took them some time to figure out from which apartment he had been calling. When they found Lusk, he claimed he was in the bathroom hiding from the killers and told deputies to kick the door down, according to the criminal complaint. They did not, but rather continued trying to get him to answer the door himself.

When he did not respond to the door or to calls or texts, officers went back outside to determine what they would do next. They heard a gunshot come from inside the apartment.

During the next several hours, Lusk fired many more times, according to the complaint. One resident reported a bullet hole in the floor of his apartment. An officer said a bullet struck a tree near where the officer was standing.

Officers were able to evacuate residents from surrounding apartments and called SWAT to assist with its Bearcat armored vehicle.

Lusk refused to come out of his apartment and continued firing, sometimes a single shot and sometimes a string of fire. Two more shots were directed at officers, the complaint states.

When Lusk failed to comply with police commands, SWAT officers entered the building about 3 a.m. At that point Lusk came out the front door holding an AR-15 style rifle. He was ordered to drop the gun and was taken into custody, the complaint states.

Using a warrant, officers searched the apartment and saw multiple bullet holes in the walls and ceiling of Lusk’s apartment. No one in the surrounding apartments and no officers were injured.

Lusk told officers he had heard people plotting against him. He believed they were inside the apartment and were going to kick in the bathroom door where he was hiding. He denied trying to shoot officers and admitted to using methamphetamine, the complaint states.

Lusk’s criminal record shows he pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree assault charge in 2003 as well as four DWI convictions.

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