Man who made shooting threat to U of M sentenced to 21 months in prison

A man who threatened to shoot people at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus was sentenced to 21 months (over 1.5 years) in prison. He has credit for 224 days already served.

Joseph Mark Rongstad, 42, had been charged with two counts of threats of violence and one count of illegal ammunition possession. He was convicted of one count of threats of violence and the other charges were dismissed.

As previously reported, the U of M asked students and non-essential staff to stay clear of campus on Jan. 11 — classes were not in session due to winter break.

Just after 1 p.m. that day, authorities gave the “all clear,” saying Rongstad was contained in Chippewa County.

The criminal complaint says the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office started getting reports the day before, when concerning posts were made on the Facebook page for All Time Curing & Landscape, which is owned by Rongstad. The posts started that evening and continued through the morning of Jan. 11.

Due to the posts, multiple schools in Chippewa, Yellow Medicine and Renville counties went into lockdown.

Rongstad was arrested after a lengthy standoff.

Court documents state Rongstad told authorities his objective in making the social media posts was to get the Secret Service to speak with him.

When deputies asked about his alleged threats to kill children at the U of M, Rongstad told them he wasn’t planning on going to the U, adding he doesn’t have a gun but saying he put it out there “so people would think I left the house, because I was posting from the home you know. So, people wouldn’t think I was still in the house” according to the complaint.

Rongstad also told authorities during the interview he was the only one with access to his business’ Facebook account, and he was the only one who uses it. He also said he believed his first Facebook post made the day of the threat was around 4 a.m. or later.