Reckless ATV use led to drive-by shooting in Outing

WALKER — A father and son were arrested Jan. 3 in connection with a September 2024 Cass County shooting.

Robert Trigve Bagan, 26, of Brainerd, was charged with felony drive-by shooting toward a person and second-degree assault.

Cass County Sheriff's Office

Trig Robert Bagan, 54, of Outing, was charged with felony aid and abet a drive-by shooting towards a person, aid and abet a second-degree assault and second-degree assault.

Robert Bagan is out on $1,500 cash bail with conditions and Trig Bagan is out on $1,000 cash bail with conditions.

According to court documents, in the early morning of Sept. 1, 2024, Cass County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a drive-by shooting that occurred in the Outing area, near the Channel Bar and Grill restaurant, 448 Highway 6 NE.

Deputies were informed that during the incident, people left the restaurant and got on all‐terrain vehicles. These vehicles drove recklessly in large circles in the bar parking lot, causing rocks from the gravel parking lot to be thrown into the air. Hitting both vehicles and people.

At some point, an all‐terrain vehicle crashed in a swamp outside the restaurant. The operator of this vehicle had been shot in the buttocks somewhere on Woods Bay Drive Northeast after being crashed into by a pickup truck after leaving the bar. The man was ultimately transported to the hospital.

In a follow up with investigators, the man told officers the bullet he was shot with came from the truck because he was approximately 20 feet from the truck and felt the pain of the gunshot in his left butt cheek.

When asked if he heard the gunshot, the man said that his four‐wheeler is loud enough to muffle the sound of a gunshot.

When investigators went to the Channel Bar and Grill, they took a statement from Trig Robert Bagan, one of the owners of the Channel Bar and Grill restaurant.

Trig Bagan described the incident that occurred in the parking lot of the restaurant involving a side-by-side that was kicking up rocks. He had a cut to his head, which was observed by the investigator. He said there were other people, too, who were cut up by these rocks, along with damage caused to vehicles.

Trig Bagan said the side-by-side then left the parking lot heading north. He said the people outside were freaking out, asking who the driver was and saying someone should get him. Trig Bagan then got into his truck to follow the side-by-side, along with his son, Robert Trigve Bagan. They attempted to follow the side-by-side and eventually found the side-by-side parked next to another guy on a four‐wheeler.

Trig Bagan said he “ripped up next to them,” and the side-by-side took off again. Trig Bagan admitted the vehicles bumped each other.

He continued to follow the side-by-side for a quarter mile and then discontinued because the other man on the four‐wheeler was behind him. Trig Bagan told investigators he stopped his truck so he could talk with the man on the four‐wheeler.

They had a brief conversation and everything was cool between them until the driver of the side-by-side came back on a different four‐wheeler.

This man began freaking out on them before burning out and again kicking up rocks, heading back toward the Channel Bar and Grill.

Trig Bagan ultimately returned to the restaurant when a woman from the side-by-side came into the parking lot saying her boyfriend got shot. He explained there was so much drama he did not want to deal with it anymore, telling her to call the cops before he walked inside his building.

Trig Bagan told investigators his son Robert Trigve Bagan had gotten out of the truck when he was talking to the man on the four‐wheeler. He told Robert Bagan to get back into the truck. Trig Bagan denied knowing how the man was shot.

He confirmed that Robert Bagan has multiple guns but denied knowing if his son had a firearm with him at the time of the incident. Trig Bagan denied hearing a gunshot while speaking with others on the roadway.

Trig Bagan did not obtain any names from anybody, nor could he provide a clothing description. However, he had advised the investigator that the purpose of chasing the people down was to identify who they were.

Later on Sept. 1, investigators spoke with Robert Bagan at his residence in Brainerd, where he provided a statement. He confirmed that he was at his father’s restaurant on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, saying that he had worked from noon to 10 p.m.

He left the restaurant to get Taco Bell and take care of his dogs before returning, estimating that he arrived back at the restaurant around 11:00 p.m. that night.

Robert Bagan said he was hit in the face and the arms by rocks being thrown into the air by a side-by-side in the parking lot. He mentioned there were a bunch of people there bleeding from getting hit by the rocks. He believed there had been a small fight going on at the restaurant prior to his arrival.

Robert Bagan denied knowing who was operating the side-by-side but believed it was occupied by two people.

He told investigators they got into the truck belonging to his father to go after the side-by-side to figure out who was operating it because of the damage and injuries they had caused.

Robert Bagan told investigators he and his dad saw the side-by-side and another four‐wheeler parked in the parking lot of the library. After seeing them, the side-by-side took off down the road and they followed.

Robert Bagan said the side-by-side dipped down a trail, so they stopped following it. He then mentioned that this side-by-side had been hit by their truck when they pulled up to it at the library.

Robert Bagan stated they stopped the guy on the four‐wheeler and talked with him. While they were talking with him, another guy then showed up on a four‐wheeler and said something to them. This second guy then peeled off, which threw a bunch of rocks at the truck.

Robert Bagan denied getting any names from anybody involved, saying he ultimately returned to the restaurant, finished cleaning, and left the establishment to return home around 3 a.m.

Robert Bagan told investigators he has a permit to carry, but he does not regularly carry. He denied having a gun with him during the incident.

When asked what type of guns he owns, he explained he had a variety, including a 1911 pistol. He also mentioned he had a couple of other pistols, but he has sold them. He noted he buys and sells guns at two pawn shops: T&B Pawn Shop and Iron Hills Pawn Shop.

The investigator eventually advised him that an individual had been shot. Robert Bagan asked if the individual had been shot in the back.

The investigator noted that Robert Bagan would not have known if the individual was shot in the back when he asked this question. Robert Bagan denied shooting the individual and denied hearing anything similar to a gunshot when he returned to the restaurant.

Robert Bagan said that when he returned to the restaurant there were people yelling, but he denied knowing what they were yelling about. He figured the people were drunk people being drunk.

He said he had no clue who else would have shot the man and that this was the first time he had heard of anything involving a shooting.

Robert Bagan did acknowledge his father called him last night to make sure he made it home, but he denied that his father made any comments to him about what happened after he left the bar.

Robert Bagan showed the investigator his phone, which showed he had accepted an incoming call from “Dad” at 2:08 a.m. and had two missed calls from “Dad” at 2:20 a.m. It also showed two outgoing calls to “Dad at 3:04 a.m. There were also two text messages from “Dad” saying, “Call me.”

On Sept. 4, 2024, investigators took a statement from a witness who explained how he had been staying at the victim’s cabin the past weekend and he had gone on a four‐wheeler ride with the victim, the victim’s girlfriend, and another friend.

He told investigators he rode trails in the area with the group and ultimately stopped at the Channel Bar in Outing. After settling his bar tab, he went outside and observed a swarm of people going after the victim’s girlfriend.

He yelled for people to stop and then ran over to her to help her. He observed someone push the victim to the ground.

He said he told the group that they needed to leave and saw the victim’s girlfriend get into the side-by-side. At that same time, a man pulled up in a truck and started attacking the victim.

The man then grabbed an object and was swinging it. The victim then sped away in an attempt not to get hit by the male swinging the object around. The man said he was sure the victim spit some rocks up at people as he attempted to escape.

He said he then got on his four‐wheeler, but he did not know where to go. He ultimately followed the victim north on Highway 6 and then turned onto Woods Bay Drive Northeast and stopped in the parking lot of the library, where they were checking on the victim’s girlfriend in the side-by-side.

While in the parking lot, he saw some headlights come over the hill and continued to approach them, eventually hitting the victim’s side-by-side with the truck.

The victim then took off in his side-by-side and the truck took off after them.

He told investigators he tried to follow them. The truck ultimately pulled into a driveway and backed out, to where they were blocking the road with the truck. He said he approached the truck right by the driver’s door, and both of the male occupants immediately got out.

They were “freaking out” on him, and he confronted them for hitting the victim’s side-by-side. The occupants of the truck yelled at him about his buddy peeling out of the parking lot and spraying rocks. He said that one of the men from the truck said they were the owner of the bar.

He said the victim eventually came back on a four‐wheeler, different from the side-by-side he had previously been driving, to where the truck had stopped in the road. The victim drove around the backside of the truck and yelled before peeling out and spraying rocks.

He said the two men began freaking out again and the other occupant of the truck told the bar owner they needed to leave right now.

He said the bar owner told him they handle things differently around here.

On Sept. 18, 2024, Cass County investigators traveled to T&B Pawn as Robert Bagan mentioned buying and selling several firearms at this and another pawn shop in the Brainerd area.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told investigators the bullet surgically removed from the victim was a .45 caliber jacketed hollow point.

The T&B employee was familiar with Robert Bagan and reviewed their records, noting that Robert Bagan had purchased a .45 Colt Uberti Cattleman revolver in September 2023 and a .45 Colt 1911 in February 2023.

On Sept. 24, 2024, investigators met with the manager of Iron Hills Pawn Shop. He too was familiar with Robert Bagan and a review of their records noted that Robert Bagan had purchased a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 2.0 in .45 caliber in September 2023.

On Oct. 1, 2024, investigators spoke with one of the co-owners of the Channel Bar and Grill restaurant. They advised they overheard a conversation between Robert Bagan and Trig Bagan. They were in the bar while the two of them were in the kitchen and they heard Robert Bagan say he tried to shoot the tire out. Trig Bagan then became upset with Robert Bagan.

On Oct. 4, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence of Robert Bagan to search for and seize the .45 caliber firearms, related ammunition and paraphernalia.

Robert Bagan was present and provided with a copy of the search warrant. He pointed to the warrant and explained he had the 1911, but he sold the other two firearms listed on the warrant a year or so ago.

On Oct. 11, 2024, investigators again spoke with the co-owner, who asked if law enforcement needed the gun used in the shooting incident. They told investigators they knew where the gun was.

They said Trig Bagan was talking with them on Oct. 10 and were made aware the gun was in the lake behind the restaurant.

They believed the gun was thrown in the lake the night of the shooting but did not see it get thrown in the lake. They said they learned of this information from Trig Bagan. They also made a comment about the Bagans wanting to drag the lake to find the gun and said Trig Bagan is trying to cover up for his son.

On Oct. 12, 2024, investigators, along with volunteer members of the Lakes Area Dive Team, traveled to Roosevelt Lake to search for a firearm in the water near the Channel Bar and Grill. During this search, a dive team member located a plastic holster lying on top of the silt at the bottom of the lake.

The holster was empty. The markings on the holster indicated it was for an M&P Shield. It did not appear as if the holster had been in the water for an extended period of time as there was no significant disintegration or animal life living on the holster.

Shortly thereafter, another dive team member located a .45 caliber Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 2.0 bearing the same serial number as the one Robert Bagan said he sold previously.

The gun was located with a metal detector as it was buried in the silt in the same approximate area as the empty holster. It did not appear as if the firearm had been in the water for an extended period of time, as there was no significant disintegration or animal life living on the firearm.

The location where the holster and firearm were found was approximately 77 feet from a dock belonging to the Channel Bar and Grill.

The magazine was later removed from the firearm. Inside it were six hollow point cartridges. The magazine holds seven cartridges.

The slide of the firearm was pulled back and revealed a bullet in the chamber of the firearm. The investigator noted the firearm contained seven cartridges, one shy of its maximum capacity of eight cartridges.

Court documents state the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension performed forensic testing on a variety of items, and their results were as follows:

The BCA said DNA profiling was conducted on swabbings from the textured grip and magazine of the recovered Smith and Wesson handgun. These profiles were compared to a known sample from Robert Bagan and others. It was determined they matched the DNA profile from Robert Bagan.

The .45 caliber bullet surgically recovered from the victim was also compared, but it could not be determined if the firearm fired the bullet. A comparative examination showed disagreement of individual characteristics, but were insufficient for elimination.

TIM SPEIER, staff writer, can be reached on Twitter @timmy2thyme , call 218-855-5859 or email [email protected] .