Shelter-in-place over on west end of Winona, assault suspect taken into custody

A shelter-in-place in the west end of Winona has been lifted Monday night after a series of alerts caused some confusion within the city.

Winona police were called to a business on the 250 block of Junction Street around 5:20 p.m. on a report that a man in his 20s had assaulted an employee with a sharp object and fled.

The Winona Police Department searched for the suspect, 25-year-old Stig Ure, until a citizen contacted law enforcement around 9:30 p.m. about a man crawling in the weeds along the 1100 block of Highway 61.

Ure was found and taken into custody, Winona police said.

The victim received non-life-threatening injuries in the incident, officials added.

A spokesperson for the Winona County Sheriff’s Office and the police department issued an apology for the confusion surrounding the multiple alerts that went out while law enforcement searched for Ure.

An alert was initially sent by the Winona County Emergency Management department just after 6:30 p.m. notifying residents to shelter-in-place for an “armed suspect” in the city. Law enforcement said that due to multiple alert platforms being used, several messages went out and caused confusion.

The alert from the Winona County Emergency Management department was initially sent to too wide of an area and indicated the shelter-in-place was for severe weather.

Additionally, a separate alert platform erroneously sent out an alert about an “active shooter,” officials added.

Winona police posted on Facebook around 8 p.m. stating that there was no active shooter in the city and the shelter-in-place was lifted.

The Winona County Sheriff’s Office and the police department say they are working together to find areas for improvement.