U of M threat suspect gave up after SWAT breached his Watson home

Jan. 11—WATSON, Minn. — The man alleged to have posted an online threat against the University of Minnesota early Thursday was taken into custody in the late afternoon at his home in the small Chippewa County community of Watson.

Joseph Mark Rongstad, 41, of Watson, gave himself up to law enforcement officers who had his home surrounded for hours.

Rongstad peacefully surrendered to a SWAT team in an armored vehicle around 4:15 p.m. Thursday.

The SWAT team used a large ram on the vehicle to pop out windows and ordered the suspect to come out.

Moments after the home's door was broken open with the ram, Rongstad complied with the orders and emerged as instructed, walking backward with his hands in the air and his shirt off.

Chippewa County Sheriff

Derek Olson posted news of the end of the long standoff shortly after.

The

University of Minnesota issued an alert

early Thursday morning after a threat to the Twin Cities campus was posted on social media. Rongstad was named as the source of the threat.

Police and security units were positioned throughout the campus, and the public was advised to avoid it.

The alert was canceled around 1 p.m. Thursday when the university announced that the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office had the suspect "contained in their county."

Just before 1 p.m., a post on a Facebook page for Rongstad's business, apparently made by him, showed a photo of a SWAT vehicle outside his home in Watson. The text on the post stated: "It's getting good around watson.... I got the swat team hear.... Where is the FEDS at why is it just sheriff's... o ya cause the feds are crooked in mn.... not you Duluth ones tho...Lol."

Georgette Jones, whose home is nearby in Watson, said her husband and their child spent much of the day hunkered down in their basement as law enforcement officers surrounded Rongstad's home. They watched his surrender on a security camera.

She said law enforcement kept their family and other residents well-apprised of what was occurring throughout the day.

One resident told the West Central Tribune that officers had evacuated the immediate area around the home in the morning.

By afternoon, squad cars from numerous agencies were in the city. In addition to the armored vehicle outside the house, a helicopter and drone were seen circling overhead.

Officers could be heard on a loudspeaker trying to persuade Rongstad to come out.

Law enforcement also detoured Highway 7/59 traffic around the area. Officers in squad cars were hurriedly instructing anyone stopping in the vicinity of the house to "get outta there, you're in the line of fire."

Rongstad was shown in custody in the Chippewa County Jail on Thursday evening. Sheriff Olson said in a news release that Rongstad was booked on probable cause felony threats of violence.

Criminal charges are expected to be filed in the coming days.

According to Olson, officers have continued executing warrants and gathering evidence Thursday evening in the ongoing investigation, conducted in partnership with the West Central SWAT Team, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI.

Olson added there is no known threat to the public at this time.

Throughout the night of Jan. 10 and the morning of Jan. 11, Rongstad posted multiple times on the Facebook page of his business, All Time Curbing & Landscape.

The Facebook post that apparently led in part to the University of Minnesota lockdown — and appears to have since been deleted — reads in part: "Here we go AMERICA, I am heading out from watson Mn to the U of M Minneapolis mn to start killing kids this am as Joseph mark rongstad."

Three western Minnesota public schools near Watson also employed extra security precautions Thursday in response to the threat investigation: Montevideo, Lac qui Parle Valley and Dawson-Boyd. All three districts pointed out that no direct threats were made toward them.

Rongstad has a criminal history, including a felony drug conviction just last month.

Court records show he was convicted of fifth-degree drug possession in Yellow Medicine County on Dec. 13, 2023. A second charge of felony first-degree damage to property was dismissed.

A 15-month prison sentence was stayed while he serves five years of probation under 6W Community Corrections in Yellow Medicine County. The judge ordered a 30-day jail sentence and gave Rongstad credit for 20 days served.

According to an amended criminal complaint, Rongstad was arrested at the Prairie's Edge Casino Resort near Granite Falls after housekeeping discovered significant damage to his hotel room, along with drugs and drug paraphernalia. Rongstad was ordered to pay more than $2,600 in restitution.

Rongstad's only other felony conviction was in 2021 in Chippewa County for driving a John Deere tractor with a front loader through a side door into the Watson Lutheran Church.

A 15-month prison sentence for felony third-degree burglary was stayed in favor of five years of supervised probation, and he was ordered to serve 30 days in the Chippewa County Jail. A property damage charge was dismissed in a plea agreement.

Rongstad's public criminal history also shows three misdemeanor convictions from 2016 to 2019, all in Chippewa County, for charges of theft, burglary and driving while impaired.

The misdemeanor burglary conviction was reduced from a felony, according to court records. That 2016 case stemmed from Rongstad breaking into the home of the Watson mayor at the time. Rongstad served as mayor from 2012 to 2014.

That burglary case led to a civil commitment of up to six months for mental illness and chemical dependency after Rongstad was found incompetent to proceed in the criminal case initially, according to West Central Tribune archives.

In June of 2016, the court found Rongstad to have delusional disorder, severe stimulant use disorder, and moderate cannabis use disorder.

The court finding put the burglary case and others against Rongstad on hold, including an incident early in 2016 when he allegedly fired a rifle through the sunroof of his truck, claiming he was "trying to get away from the corpses that were after him."

On June 13, 2023, Rongstad posted on Facebook about his mental health issues as he informed his customers of delays in work while he focused on his health.