Murder charges have officially been filed against 27 year-old, Nathan Yankowski of Long Pine for the shooting death of Logan Maring, 18 of Merna.
According to documents received from NTV News, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene after a call had come in stating Maring had accidentally shot himself with a pistol.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a sergeant with the sheriff’s office performed CPR after being unable to locate a pulse. EMS crews arrived a short time after and pronounced Maring deceased.
According to the records, Yankowski first told police that he observed Maring with a pistol in his hand when he tripped and began to fall. Yankowski said that he attempted to try and catch Maring, but the gun went off shooting Maring in the head. The report states that Yankowski was concerned that his fingerprints would be on the gun because he had tried to catch Maring.
Yankowski later approached the sergeant and admitted that he had lied in his earlier statement about Maring tripping and trying to catch him.
After being read his Miranda rights, Yankowski stated that he was messing around thinking that the gun was unloaded when he noticed that the hammer on the gun was pulled back. Yankowski stated that he tried to release the hammer forward when his thumb slipped and the gun went off.
According to Brown County Court records, Yankowski has been charged with 2nd degree murder (class IB felony) and terroristic threats (class IIIA felony).
