Police identify victims, alleged shooter in Cloquet Super 8 killings
CLOQUET, Minn. — Police on Wednesday released the names of two people killed at a motel in northern Minnesota earlier this week, as well as their alleged killer, who authorities said also fatally shot himself.
The Cloquet Police Department identified the victims as Patrick Jeffrey Roers of Deer River and 22-year-old Shellby Marie Trettel of Cloquet. Nicholas Elliot Lenius, 32 of Ramsey, fatally shot them both, according to police.
Authorities allege Lenius shot Trettel, who was working as a clerk at the Super 8 in Cloquet, Monday evening, then exited the building and shot Roers before fatally shooting himself nearby.
Roers died at the scene, while Trettel was hospitalized after the shooting and later died.
The Cloquet Police Department said it and the other agencies involved "are dedicated to working diligently in investigating this incident, aiming to bring clarity and understanding to the circumstances surrounding it as quickly as possible."
Authorities still have not determined a motive for the shooting. Trettel's father Tim called it "a senseless act of violence."
"Shellby was a caring, compassionate and wonderfully colorful person," he said in a statement. "She loved her siblings and friends and her music. Shellby was a person who you could always count on. Shellby Trettel is a memorable person who has touched many lives. She will be so dearly missed and forever in our hearts."
The Super 8 hotel is located on the 100 block of Big Lake Road. Cloquet is about 25 miles southwest of Duluth.
