UPDATE: Victim identified in Town of Tainter shooting, DC sheriff’s department still looking for 2 suspects
SOUGHT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT — Shawn Harris Goplen (left) and Kari Lynn Blank are being sought in connection with a Town of Tainter shooting.
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Sheriff’s Department has identified the victim in a shooting in the Town of Tainter Sunday evening as Bruce R. Sundstrom, 48, of rural Colfax.
Sundstrom suffered a gunshot wound to his leg and is expected to recover from the injury, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department dated May 29.
Sundstrom and the two suspects, 34-year-old Shawn Harris Goplen of Red Wing, Minnesota, and 36-year-old Kari Lynn Blank of Ellsworth, know each other, according to the news release.
A maroon Jeep, which was one of the vehicles reported to have left the scene after the shooting, was recovered near Boyceville Tuesday morning, May 29. The Jeep had been stolen from Hudson, according to the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department.
The sheriff’s department has obtained arrest warrants for Goplen and Blank.
At about 10:45 p.m. Sunday, May 27, the Dunn County E-911 Center received a report of an adult male who had sustained a gunshot wound in the 5900 block of county Road D in the Town of Tainter.
Sundstrom was transported to Mayo-Eau Claire by ambulance and was conscious at the time of transport.
Goplen is described as white male, 5’11” and weighing 300 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. He is wanted for attempted first degree intentional homicide and also is wanted on a warrant from the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Blank is described as a white female, 5’5” and weighing 190 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. She is wanted as a party to attempted first degree intentional homicide and also is wanted on a warrant from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
According to a news release from the sheriff’s department, Goplen and Blank were believed to have left the scene of the shooting in separate vehicles: a mid-2000 model four-door silver Honda or Mitsubishi and a 2000 model maroon Jeep Cherokee.
As of Wednesday morning, the silver Honda or Mitsubishi had not yet been located, and Goplen and Blank had not yet been taken into custody.
Goplen and Blank are considered to be armed and dangerous. If anyone sees either of them, call 911 or contact your local law enforcement agency. Do not approach them.
Anyone who knows of the whereabouts of Goplen and Blank or who knows anything about the circumstances surrounding the shooting is asked to contact the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department at 715-232-1348.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Dunn County Crime Stoppers at www.dunncocrimestoppers.com.
In addition to the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department, the Colfax Rescue Squad and Menomonie Fire/EMS responded to the scene.
The Menomonie Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol assisted at the scene as well.
