Bemidji assault under investigation amid recent violent cases

Bemidji police and Beltrami County deputies are handling an assault investigation in the city as another serious violent case adds to a busy spring for law enforcement. The newest case comes after a May 7 shooting investigation in the 2500 block of Itasca Loop Northwest, where a 16-year-old male turned himself in after being accused of shooting three people.

The same pattern has shown up in other recent cases across Bemidji. On May 30, 2025, officers and deputies responded to an address on East Avenue after a report that an individual had just been stabbed inside a residence. That call followed a broader series of violent incidents that have kept local investigators moving between apartment buildings, homes and neighborhood streets.

Earlier cases were no less severe. On Oct. 25, 2021, two people were injured, one seriously, when a man attacked them with a handsaw in the 1700 block of Irvine Avenue Northwest. The case added to a growing list of assaults in the city that required major police response and left at least one victim with critical injuries.

Bemidji police have also sought help from the public in other violent-crime investigations, including a March 2023 attempted abduction near the Bemidji State campus. In that case, investigators asked for assistance in locating a Cass Lake man accused of trying to abduct two women, underscoring how often serious offenses in the area have drawn in students, neighbors and nearby residents.

Taken together, the assault now under investigation and the recent shooting, stabbing, handsaw attack and attempted abduction show a local law-enforcement landscape that has repeatedly faced high-stakes violence cases across Bemidji and Beltrami County. The latest file adds to that record while officers continue to work through another incident that has already pulled in multiple agencies.