Three people were found dead around a campfire at a cabin on Big Sandy Lake in Aitkin County early this morning.
The Aitkin County Sherriff's Department received a 911 call at 1:40 a.m. with a caller reporting there had been a shooting and that two people were dead at the cabin.
When deputies arrived, they found three people dead -- two men and one woman -- and a weapon at the scene on Bill Horn Bay off County Road 14.
Sheriff Scott Turner said names, ages and residences of the victims are being withheld until all close family have been notified. He said no one is in custody, but he declined to confirm the shooting as a murder/suicide.
"I'm not going to speculate quite yet. But we are not looking for any suspects,'' Turner told the News Tribune.
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Turner said investigators still are talking with other people who may have been at the campfire near the time of the shooting to determine a motive. He expected more information to be released Sunday.
Local residents say the shooting may have involved some sort of mistaken jealousy. They described the apparent shooter/suicide victim as a man in his 50s who rented a cabin for the season on the lake. The other victims were a Twin Cities woman and a local man, said Kim Bidwell of McGregor, who said she knew the people involved.
The apparent shooter/suicide victim "was one of my best friends. I don't think there was anything going on. But he may have had some infatuation or something,'' she said. "He must have just snapped. He's never done anything violent before. This is all terrible.''
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is involved in the investigation. An autopsy will be conducted in Ramsey County.
Big Sandy Lake is about 70 miles west of Duluth.
