North Dakota man arrested after firearm found at Fergus Falls gas station

A handgun left in the toy-and-candy section of a Fergus Falls gas station raised immediate public-safety concerns after an Otter Tail County deputy followed a traffic stop from Interstate 94 into the store and found the weapon hidden among merchandise.

According to court records summarized by Fergus Now, the deputy first noticed a vehicle being driven suspiciously east of Fergus Falls on I-94. The stop escalated after the driver failed to signal a turn and pulled into the front of a gas station. A male passenger, later identified as 36-year-old Jacob Daniel Gilmore of Stanley, North Dakota, got out and went inside.

The deputy followed Gilmore into the restroom while finishing the traffic stop, then later reviewed surveillance footage that appeared to show Gilmore dropping an item inside the store on the way to the bathroom. That led the deputy to the toy-and-candy area, where he found a black shirt sitting on top of a merchandise box. Wrapped inside it was a yellow plastic bag containing a Walther PPX 9mm pistol. The gun was not loaded, but it came with two full magazines.

Gilmore was arrested on accusations of being a convicted felon of a violent crime in possession of a firearm and of possessing a pistol in public without a permit. Minnesota Statutes section 624.713 bars people convicted of a crime of violence from possessing a pistol or ammunition. Section 624.714 makes carrying or possessing a pistol in a public place without a permit a gross misdemeanor, with a second or subsequent conviction rising to a felony.

The case moved into Otter Tail County District Court in Fergus Falls, where the county courthouse has original jurisdiction over criminal and traffic matters filed in Otter Tail County. Gilmore made his first court appearance Wednesday morning. The county’s permit-to-carry process also underscores how tightly controlled lawful carry is locally: applications must be made in person at the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office or Sheriff’s Operations Center during business hours.

The setting sharpened the stakes. A firearm placed in a public store, in a section where children could have been browsing, turned a routine traffic stop on a busy travel corridor into a criminal case with clear implications for gun handling and enforcement in high-traffic public spaces.