Man fatally shot by pursuing deputies near Duluth after he allegedly set homes on fire

NORMANNA TOWNSHIP, Minn. — A 57-year-old man with a history of intense conflict with neighbors in rural St. Louis County was shot and killed by pursuing sheriff’s deputies Tuesday morning near Duluth, officials said.

The Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Adam Clinton Wolf, who was being tracked after reports of him setting ablaze his Normanna Township home — and neighbors’ homes — shortly before he was shot.

Communications among emergency dispatch and deputies in the field revealed that Wolf was shot at about 9:50 a.m., and life-saving efforts soon afterward were called off.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said Wolf “engaged them,” and five deputies fired their weapons during what was described as a “chaotic and very dangerous situation.“

According to Ramsay, a neighbor called authorities to report that Wolf had sprayed one of their family members with gasoline and set their home on fire. A second neighbor called to report Wolf had a rifle on him.

Wolf allegedly went on to set another home on fire, both of which were extinguished by a member of the township’s volunteer fire department, who ended up taking cover when he heard gunshots.

Wolf’s home was set on fire sometime after 9:30 a.m., according to the dispatches.

Bob Swanfeld, a relatively new neighbor, said Wolf has been a problem to those in surrounding homes.

Julie Johnson’s parents, who lived next door to Wolf, had filed a restraining order against him — one of several in this rural neighborhood, she said. The Johnsons had a fence built between the properties, she said.

Neighbor Dennis Gunsolus said he knew Wolf would eventually burn down his own home. In Wolf’s four years of living in Normanna Township, he had complaints about the placement of a septic tank and certain trees. When his neighbors built a fence, he protested by running his diesel truck all night.

Until then, it had been a quiet neighborhood with older residents.

“He was kind of spooky, to say the least,” said Gunsolus.

Gunsolus wasn’t home when the incidents occurred. He had gone into Duluth to get supplies for his wife, who has cancer. When he returned, access to his home was blocked, and he was given little information about what had happened. He was frustrated and called it the worst day of his life.

“Two months ago, I predicted this,” he said.

Ramsay said in a Facebook Live post that Wolf had on hand several homemade devices seemingly set to fire projectiles at first responders.

The five officers have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard protocol.

Wolf has a history of clashing with neighbors who are related to one another dating back to 2020, when one of the Johnsons had filed a harassment petition with the court.

Subsequent harassment filings and counter-filings by Wolf followed over the next three years, according to court records.

He has been charged three times with violating harassment orders, most recently with felony counts in October, when he was accused of yelling homophobic slurs about one neighbor’s son.

Wolf was convicted of a misdemeanor in one case, while the other two remained open.

Among the earlier reports from dispatch was of Wolf approaching one home on a golf cart, and “he sprayed something on the back porch, then lit it on fire and took off. They hit the [911 caller’s] husband in the face with something. ... [The caller] is now saying the neighbor’s house is on fire as well.”

Word from dispatch revealed Wolf had a gun and rode into the 911 caller’s yard on a lawn mower with a rifle.

“Adam Wolf is leaving the yard now,” the dispatcher told deputies. “House is completely engulfed.”

Dispatch announced his description and included that he was “wearing earmuffs [and] was last seen on a red lawn mower and had a rifle in his lap. Also appears to have a flare gun.”

One deputy reported seeing what looked like a crashed lawn mower along the road, and a fellow deputy said he heard what sounded like a lawn mower’s engine running.

Shortly after 9:51 a.m., a deputy screamed, “Right side! Right side!”

Dispatch alerted to “guy in the road,” quickly followed by one deputy saying, “Shots fired! Shots fired!” then another, “Shots fired. Suspect is down.”