Man wielding axe threatens to ‘kill all’ SWAT agents during standoff in St. Joseph: Charges

article On Oct. 7, a SWAT team arrested an assault suspect accused of forcing his way into a home with an axe in St. Jospeh. The Brief On Oct. 7, charges state that Ernest Henry Gerdes kicked in a door at a St. Joseph Township home while holding an axe.Officers say Gerdes later refused to surrender at a St. Joseph residence, leading to a standoff that lasted more than 10 hours into Oct. 8.A criminal history review lists prior misdemeanor convictions for assault and violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (FOX 9) - A burglary call in Stearns County turned into a more than 10-hour SWAT standoff before a man wielding an axe and threatening to "kill all" agents was eventually arrested. St. Joseph standoff charges What we know: According to charges filed in Stearns County, officers were called on Oct. 7 to a residence in St. Joseph Township on a burglary report. Charges state that a woman told deputies that Ernest Henry Gerdes came to her home, demanded that she open the door and kicked it in after she told him to leave. She said Gerdes was holding an axe in an upward position during the confrontation, and said she was afraid until a man at the residence got Gerdes to leave. During the altercation, Gerdes was yelling about dog food and theft, according to charges. Dig deeper: Upon arrival, officers say they found damage to the doorframe and substantial damage to the door at the home. According to charges, they later found Gerdes at a residence in St. Joseph, where he was holding an axe and refused to come to the door after being told he was under arrest. He then moved through the home with an axe and sledgehammer while yelling and refusing commands, which led officers to call in a SWAT response that led to a standoff. Police reports say Gerdes told officers he was not coming out and would "f---ing kill all of us." The standoff lasted more than 10 hours, during which officers used multiple gas deployments and fired less-lethal rounds into the residence before Gerdes was tased through a window and arrested in the morning hours of Oct. 8. Big picture view: A criminal history review listed two prior misdemeanor convictions for Gerdes: one for assault tied to Jan. 27, 2018, and one for violating a domestic abuse no-contact order tied to May 25, 2018. The review says both convictions were entered on Oct. 10, 2018, and both sentences were imposed on Dec. 3, 2018. The Source: Information provided by charges filed in Stearns County. Stearns CountyCrime and Public SafetyMinnesota