MnDOT announced at 1:55 p.m. today that Highway 7 is temporarily closed east of Hutchinson between Memory Circle and Major Avenue, due to a crash. Traffic is being detoured on local roads by flaggers; drivers are encouraged to take alternate routes.

Wright County Deputies responded to the area of 4th St. S. and Franklin Ave. E. in the city of Delano July 22 at approximately 2:07 a.m. for a report of an injured adult female who had reportedly been injured by a moving train. Deputies discovered Heather Sinkel (51-year-old from Webster, WI) lying on the railroad track, according to the Wright County Sheriff’s Office.

She had reportedly been crossing the tracks with two others and tried to cross between two train cars that were parked on the tracks. The train reportedly began moving when Sinkel and the others were crossing between the cars, and she reportedly fell and became stuck below the moving train cars. Sinkel suffered severe injuries from the incident. Lifesaving procedures were implemented by Wright County deputies and rescue personnel from Delano Fire Department. The injured female was transported to HCMC (Hennepin County Medical Center) by Ridgeview Ambulance.

A 44-hour standoff between law enforcement and 39-year-old Brandon Gardas in St. Michael ended at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 22 when officers entered the residence where Gardas had barricaded himself.

This confrontation resulted in Gardas being shot and injured. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Minneapolis for treatment of his wounds.

Because there was an officer-involved shooting, the case was transferred from the Wright County Sheriff’s Office to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Any comment on the case from here on through will be coming through the BCA.