By Forrest Adams

and Richard Crawford

Sheriff’s deputies and volunteer firefighters were relieved Thursday evening after nobody was injured in a Victoria shooting incident.

In the aftermath, Mark Stanley Dekowski, 47, was taken into custody and charged with a two misdemeanor counts. The first was dangerous weapons/reckless handle or use; the second was discharge of a firearm, a city ordinance violation. Dekowski appeared in court on Monday.

At five minutes to 6 p.m., the Carver County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call of shots fired from a residential neighborhood on the 1500 block of Wintergreen Court.

“There are families and children everywhere. There’s a walking path right past the house. It couldn’t be in a more dangerous location,” Sheriff Bud Olson reported. “It is unbelievable that we have nobody hurt, especially because of the random shots that were fired.”

The caller reported that her husband had been drinking, and they had a disagreement, after which time he went to an upstairs room, and she heard what sounded like a gunshot.

“She got home from work and found him drinking,” Olson said. “That would have been between 5:30 and the time when we got to call.”

Dekowski had recently broken his leg and was confined to the home, Olson said. He was using a handgun, and when his wife confronted him about the gunshot, he said he was practicing.

“She thought this was very unusual, and she was going to call us,” Olson said.

Leaving the room, she heard another shot and ran from the home to call 9-1-1.

“She told us that she saw one of the shots leave the house and go out toward County Road 11,” Olson said.

When deputies arrived at the residence, they also heard shooting coming from within the residence. They set up a perimeter around the home and cleared the neighborhood and golf course across Co. Rd. 11 before making telephone contact with the shooter.

A negotiator convinced Dekowski to come out of the house a few minutes after authorities arrived. He was arrested and taken to a local hospital to be evaluated. The ensuing investigation into Dekowski’s actions revealed that his purpose in firing the shots was to scare his wife.

A blood test indicated that Dekowski had a blood-alcohol level of .23, Olson said.

Olson said there were at least two shots fired before deputies arrived and at least two shots fired after deputies were at the scene. Olson said deputies removed about 10 firearms and ammunition from the house.

Olson said the Sheriff’s Office has no previous contact with this individual, or with his family. Nobody else was in the home at the time of the incident, and there were no children involved, Olson said.

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.