The Crow Wing County case centers on a reported threat made before the teen came home.
BRAINERD, Minn. — A Minnesota mother drove her wounded son to a Dollar General after deputies say her father shot the 18-year-old with birdshot at a rural Crow Wing County home.
The flight from the home is a key part of the criminal complaint against Jonathan Boyd Berg, 72, of Merrifield. Authorities said the mother identified Berg as the shooter, described threats made before and after the gunfire, and told investigators the violence followed an argument over her son not storing a fish house.
Deputies with the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched May 3 to a shooting at a residence in Center Township. Before they reached the home, they were told the victims were no longer there. The mother and son had left for a nearby Dollar General, where law enforcement found them. The teen had a pattern of injuries that investigators said was consistent with birdshot. That store parking lot became the place where the first public pieces of the case came together: an injured teenager, a frightened mother and a report that the shooter was a close family member.
The woman told deputies the trouble had begun earlier with complaints about a fish house. Berg, she said, was agitated that her son had not stored it. The argument turned physical when Berg allegedly struck the teen in the mouth. The teen hit him back. Berg then threatened to shoot the teen’s dog, according to the complaint. The mother intervened, and the teen left with his brother to go fishing. That departure gave the household a break, but it also set up the return that investigators say Berg was waiting for.
The mother’s statement placed a direct warning before the shooting. She told deputies that roughly an hour before the gunfire, Berg asked when her son was coming home so he could shoot him. She also said Berg had been drinking heavily that evening and had consumed about two gallons of Windsor whiskey over several days. Those details now matter because prosecutors charged Berg with first-degree premeditated attempted murder. The charge turns the reported waiting period, the alleged statement and the timing of the teen’s return into central facts.
When the teen came back around 9 p.m., his mother said she spoke with him briefly. Then she heard the blast. Glass broke. Her son screamed. She looked and saw Berg on his bed holding a 16-gauge shotgun, according to the complaint. The gun appeared to have smoke coming from it. Authorities said the teen was struck by birdshot, the small pellets commonly fired from a shotgun shell. Reports described wounds to the teen’s back, buttocks and thighs.
The mother then asked Berg why he had shot her child. Instead of helping, investigators said, Berg threatened her. He told her to be quiet and said he would shoot her too, according to the complaint. The woman removed her son from the home and drove away. Deputies later found them at the Dollar General, a detail that shows how quickly the scene shifted from a private home to a public place where law enforcement and emergency response could reach the victims.
Berg was charged May 5 in Crow Wing County District Court with felony first-degree premeditated attempted murder, felony first-degree assault with great bodily harm, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon causing substantial bodily harm, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and felony threats of violence with reckless disregard of risk. The charges cover both the alleged shooting of the grandson and the alleged threat made toward the daughter after she confronted him.
The complaint does not identify the teen or his mother by name in public reporting. It also does not give a full medical update beyond the description of birdshot injuries. The teen survived, and no death was reported. Authorities have not said whether the shooting left permanent injury. That information could become important to the assault counts, especially the charge tied to great bodily harm and the charge tied to substantial bodily harm. The case also carries a rural Minnesota backdrop. Fish houses are common in lake areas and are often moved, stored and maintained outside the winter season. In this case, authorities did not describe the fish house as more than a household chore or source of anger. The complaint instead focuses on how a routine task allegedly became the subject of repeated complaints, then a face strike, a threat against a dog, a threat against a grandson and a shotgun blast.
Public reports say Berg was held in the Crow Wing County Jail with bail set at $750,000 without conditions or $300,000 with conditions. An omnibus hearing was scheduled for May 14. In Minnesota felony cases, that stage can address probable cause, discovery, bail terms and future hearing dates. Prosecutors may rely on witness statements, physical evidence from the home, medical records and any shotgun or shell evidence collected by investigators.
The mother’s account remains the clearest public narrative of the night. She reported the earlier threat, heard the shot, saw the shotgun and drove her son to safety. Berg has not been convicted, and the allegations still must be tested in court. The case now sits with Crow Wing County prosecutors as they move from the emergency response to the courtroom record.
Author note: Last updated June 2, 2026.