Officers: Bullets Could Be Heard Whizzing By During Standoff

HASTINGS (AP) - A criminal complaint charging an Inver Groves Heights woman with assault says officers outside her house during a standoff could hear bullets whizzing through the tree branches.

Authorities say 50-year-old Kathryn Mielke fired eight gunshots from her front window during a two-hour standoff last week. A neighbor told police she called authorities because Mielke was drinking and making suicidal comments.

Several nearby homes were evacuated and Hilltop Elementary School was locked down. Mielke was granted a public defender Monday and is due back in court Nov. 17. She faces three counts of second-degree assault.