Mantorville man arrested for shooting at police

A Mantorvlle man remained in custody Monday after being charged with felony assault after he shot towards police during a standoff last Thursday.
Russell Herbert Hilsman, 57, was charged with first-degree assault for using deadly force against a peace officer and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, both felonies.
According to the criminal complaint, a Dodge County deputy was dispatched to a residence in the 500 block of Eagle Court after Hilsman’s wife called officials because her husband was in a shed with a gun.
When the deputy on the scene could not determine the position of the individual because of tree cover, he requested back-up and several other officers arrived. The Sheriff’s Office drone located Hilsman in a 8-foot by 12-foot shed on the property.
The complaint states that during a phone conversation with a deputy, Hilsman said he wanted to “end it all, either by his own gun or suicide by cop.” He also said he had 13 propane tanks in the shed and could just blow up the shed.
Deputies saw Hilsman had a shotgun pointed directly at them through a shed window and a deputy said he heard “a racked round into the chamber.” The complaint states that Hilsman then said he wanted deputies to know he was serious and lowered the weapon and hung up the phone.
Minutes later a shotgun blast blew out the west window by the shed door toward the deputies who then retreated toward their vehicles.
The complaint says that Hilsman then fired three additional rounds toward a larger shed to the south and then left the shed unarmed heading toward his residence. A Kasson officer tackled him to the ground. Hilsman was placed in an ambulance to be transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys for psychological evaluation before being taken to the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center.
He appeared before Dodge County District Judge Debra Groehler on Friday, August 18, and was ordered held on $75,000 bail.
First degree assault against a peace officer is punishable by 20 years and/or a $30,000 fine. Second dree assault with a dangerous weapon is punishable by seven years or $14,000 fine or both.
Hilsman’s next court appearance is scheduled for August 30 in Dodge County District Court.