AURORA, Minnesota — She walked through her own front door and came face to face with a rifle pointed directly at her.
In the seconds that followed, the only thing that saved her life was a stumble.
Landon Terrance Tuomala, 24, has been sentenced to 120 months in prison after attempting to shoot and kill his father’s girlfriend inside a residence on East Third Avenue South in Aurora — a small mining town about 60 miles north of Duluth.
What Happened That Evening
On Aug. 26, 2024, just before 7 p.m., the woman entered the home she shared with Tuomala and his father.
The moment she stepped inside, she saw Tuomala pointing a .30-30 lever-action rifle directly at her.
She turned and ran.
As she fled, she screamed for someone to call 911 — and then tripped and fell to the ground. The bullet fired from the rifle passed directly over her body.
She got up and ran again, only to find Tuomala still pointing the gun at her as she escaped.
“She Was Terrified and Thought She Was Going to Die”
Neighbors heard a loud boom followed by screaming and rushed to help.
They escorted the woman to safety in a nearby pickup truck, where officers later found her visibly shaking and upset.
Police wrote in charging documents that the victim said she was terrified and believed she was going to die.
A bullet was later recovered from a neighboring home.
The Suspect Called 911 Himself
Within moments of the shooting, Tuomala called 911 himself — telling dispatchers he had just shot someone but was no longer armed.
When officers arrived, he walked out of the house with his hands raised, still believing he had killed her.
He told police he called after seeing the victim fall to the ground outside.
The Sentence and the Controversy
St. Louis County Judge Michelle Anderson convicted Tuomala of one count of second-degree attempted murder following a stipulated evidence trial.
She sentenced him to 120 months — 10 years — departing significantly from the 173-month guideline recommended by the state.
Prosecutors objected to the reduced sentence.
The judge justified the departure based on the defendant’s mental or physical impairment and his lack of substantial capacity for judgment at the time of the shooting.
The victim told police that Tuomala had recently moved into the home after being asked to leave two separate treatment facilities.
A one-inch difference in her fall — and this story would have ended very differently.
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