Man hospitalized after shooting southeast of Bemidji, 18-year-old arrested
A shooting in Bemidji Township left one man hospitalized and put 18-year-old Ray Gene Jacob Tahahawah in custody after a 2:27 p.m. emergency call.
A man was hospitalized after a shooting in Bemidji Township, and Beltrami County investigators identified 18-year-old Ray Gene Jacob Tahahawah as the suspect. The emergency call came into the Beltrami County Emergency Communications Center at about 2:27 p.m. Friday, May 15, from the 1200 block of Little Norway Ave. SE, just southeast of Bemidji.
The injured man was first taken to Sanford Bemidji Medical Emergency Department and later transferred to Sanford in Fargo. Authorities said he was in stable condition as of Sunday, May 17. The sheriff’s office has not identified the victim, and it has not said what led to the gunfire or what relationship, if any, existed between the two men.
Investigators said the suspect vehicle was later located by Red Lake Law Enforcement within the Red Lake Nation. Charges were pending through the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office, which will decide the next court steps after the case review. The sheriff’s office said the investigation drew help from the Bemidji Police Department, Paul Bunyan Task Force, Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, Red Lake Department of Public Safety, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bemidji Ambulance Service.
The location of the shooting matters for residents because it was not in the city of Bemidji proper, but in Bemidji Township, where county dispatch and sheriff’s deputies typically handle the first response. The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office says it patrols more than 3,000 square miles and protects more than 47,000 residents, while Red Lake Law Enforcement says it maintains 24-hour dispatch and patrol across 840,000 acres of federal Indian trust land.
The case comes amid a recent cluster of serious gun violence reports in the Bemidji area. Another shooting on May 7 involved three victims and a 16-year-old suspect, adding to local concern about how quickly a violent call can turn into a multi-agency response across Beltrami County and nearby Red Lake Nation.
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