Stray bullet hits home of Dakota County sheriff

Authorities believe a bullet that hit Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie's house early Saturday morning came from an incident near Leslie's Mendota Heights home and was not targeted at the sheriff.

Residents living several blocks away from the sheriff reported that they were awakened by four or five gunshots at or near 4 a.m., about the time Leslie's house was struck, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Monday.

The exact location of the gunshots is unknown but believed to be near Minnesota Highway 13 and Sylvandale Road in Mendota Heights, the department said.

Agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension determined the bullet that hit Leslie's home was coincidentally related to the shots fired nearby and that there's no ongoing threat to Leslie or anyone else in the neighborhood. The BCA continues to investigate.

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