A man has been charged with threatening people with a gun outside an Eden Prairie mall during an altercation that began with the suspect allegedly telling another man to pull up his sagging pants and then using a racial slur.
The encounter unfolded on the afternoon of April 12 near the entrance to the Eden Prairie Center, when police responded to a report of a man pointing a gun at people and threatening to kill them, according to a criminal complaint. Daniel Skrove, 55, of Chanhassen, faces two counts of making terroristic threats.
According to the complaint, two people were walking through the mall when Skrove, unprovoked, yelled at one of them to pull up his pants, using an expletive. When the pair confronted him, Skrove allegedly responded: "Yeah, I am talking to you [racial slur], pull your [expletive] pants up."
Skrove then ran up to the two, who reacted by punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground, the complaint said. Officials say that Skrove drew a handgun as he leaped to his feet, pointing the weapon at the pair while threatening to kill them.
According to the complaint, Skrove's son tried to calm down his father, who finally put the gun away after he noticed that a crowd had gathered to watch the encounter. He was arrested a short time later in the mall's food court; officers smelled alcohol on his breath, according to the complaint. Police recovered a .45-caliber handgun, the complaint said.
Skrove was released from jail earlier this week after posting $20,000 bond. Several eyewitnesses told police that he could have retreated but instead escalated the encounter by pulling out a gun, the complaint said.
His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
