Watch: Police identify man with rifle taken into custody in Moorhead

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) – Police have identified a man whose actions led authorities to issue a shelter-in-place advisory Friday morning in Moorhead.

Twenty-eight-year-old Malachi Shabaiash of Moorhead was taken to a Fargo hospital for treatment of injuries sustained from a police K-9.

Police were telling residents near 11th Ave. S. and 3rd St. to shelter in place at around 6:00 a.m. Residents were urged to lock doors and stay away from windows and exterior doors.

Police Chief Chris Helmick says police received a “shots fired” call at around 4:45 a.m. Nothing was located at that time. Helmick says around 30 minutes later, when police responded to a second call, they located a rifle on the front steps of a residence.

Police made contact Shabaiash inside the residence by phone. Helmick says Shabaiash agreed to come outside, but then went back inside, grabbed another rifle and fled the area. At that point, police set up a perimeter and issued a shelter-in-place alert for the area.

A search was conducted with assistance from a Clay County Sheriff’s Office K9 team and the Moorhead Fire Department who deployed a drone.

The drone located Shabaiash, who was hiding in a backyard and was still in possession of a rifle.

The shelter-in-place was lifted at around 6:50 a.m.

Shabaiash is being held pending charges from the Clay County Attorney’s Office.