The case began at a Center Township home and moved to a nearby store after the victims fled.
BRAINERD, Minn. — A household dispute in rural Crow Wing County ended in felony charges after deputies say a Merrifield grandfather shot his 18-year-old grandson with birdshot inside a Center Township home.
The criminal case against Jonathan Boyd Berg, 72, centers on a familiar object in northern Minnesota lake country: a fish house. Authorities said Berg was angry that his grandson had not stored the shelter. What began as a complaint over that task became, according to investigators, a violent sequence that included a punch, a threat against a dog, a threat to shoot the teen and a shotgun blast.
Center Township sits in Crow Wing County, where fishing cabins, lakes and seasonal gear are part of the landscape. A fish house is commonly used for ice fishing and can sit outside homes, garages or lake access areas when not in use. Public reports of the complaint do not say what condition the fish house was in or why Berg wanted it stored that day. The item matters in the case because family members told deputies it was the source of Berg’s anger before the shooting.
Investigators said the confrontation started before the gunfire. Berg and the teen argued about the fish house, and Berg allegedly struck the teen in the mouth. The teen hit him back. Berg then threatened to shoot the teen’s dog, according to the complaint. The teen’s mother stepped between them, and the teen left the home with his brother to go fishing. That decision removed him from the house for a time, but the complaint says Berg’s anger did not end when the teen left.
The teen’s mother told deputies Berg later asked when her son was coming home so he could shoot him. She also said he had been drinking heavily and had consumed about two gallons of Windsor whiskey over the previous few days. Those statements now sit at the center of the prosecution’s theory. Prosecutors charged Berg with felony first-degree premeditated attempted murder, a count that requires more than proof of a sudden shooting. It requires proof tied to intent and planning. The teen returned home around 9 p.m. May 3. His mother said she spoke with him shortly before she heard a gunshot, glass breaking and her son screaming. She then saw Berg sitting on his bed with a 16-gauge shotgun, according to the complaint. The gun appeared to have smoke coming from it. Deputies later found the teen with a pattern of injuries that matched birdshot. Public reports described wounds to his back, buttocks and thighs.
The home was not where the first contact with deputies occurred. While law enforcement responded to the shooting call, they learned the mother and son had fled. Deputies found them at a nearby Dollar General store. That movement from the home to the store provides a second scene in the case. The residence is where the shot was allegedly fired. The store is where deputies saw the injuries, took early statements and began connecting the reported family conflict to the physical evidence.
The complaint says Berg also threatened the mother after the shot. When she asked why he had shot her son, he told her to be quiet and said he would shoot her too, according to investigators. That alleged threat became part of a broader charging decision. Berg was charged not only with attempted murder and assault counts tied to the teen’s injuries but also with threats of violence with reckless disregard of risk.
The filed charges include first-degree assault with great bodily harm, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon causing substantial bodily harm and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. Each count highlights a different part of the alleged conduct. The attempted murder count focuses on intent to kill. The assault counts focus on the shotgun, the injuries and the use of a dangerous weapon. The threats count focuses on words that investigators say placed others in fear of further violence.
Berg was held in the Crow Wing County Jail after the shooting. Reports said bail was set at $750,000 without conditions or $300,000 with conditions. His next hearing was scheduled for May 14. The public record available through news reports does not list a trial date, a plea or a final medical update for the teen. It also does not say whether the court ordered Berg to have no contact with the alleged victims, though such issues are commonly addressed in serious assault cases.
Several facts remain unknown. Authorities have not publicly released the names of the teen, his mother or his brother. They have not released a full forensic report on the shotgun, the glass or the pellet pattern. The complaint, as summarized in public reports, does not say whether Berg made a statement to deputies after his arrest. Those gaps leave the court record as the next place where more details may emerge.
For the family, the case turned a rural home and a routine seasonal chore into the setting of an attempted murder allegation. Berg remains presumed innocent unless convicted. The matter now rests with Crow Wing County District Court as prosecutors, defense counsel and the judge set the next steps after the scheduled May 14 hearing.
Author note: Last updated June 2, 2026.