Nicolae Miu is the mechanical engineer from Minnesota who is accused of stabbing a 17-year-old boy to death and injuring four other people who were tubing on the Apple River, a popular tourist activity near Somerset, Wisconsin, a town 35 miles of northeast of Minneapolis.
Miu, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, is accused of one count of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Miu has now been criminally charged. You can read the criminal complaint here. He is claiming self defense; the complaint describes an intense confrontation between Miu and a group of juveniles.
The teenage boy who died was identified by his family as Isaac Schuman of Stillwater, Minnesota, according to WBAY-TV.
The other victims, who are now in stable condition, were identified by the Sheriff’s Department as a 24-year-old woman from Burnsville, Minnesota, a 22-year-old man from Elk River, Minnesota, and a 20-year-old man and 22-year-old man from Luck, Wisconsin. Their names were not released, the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department wrote in a news release.
“Everybody was tubing,” including the victims and suspect. They were “simultaneously going down” the Apple River, St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson said in a July 30 news conference.
The suspect was with a group of six to eight people, and the victims were in another group. The sheriff said authorities want to interview about 15 to 20 people.
“We located five individuals that were suffering from stab wounds,” Knudson said. Four people were transported to a hospital. One person was deceased. The four surviving victims are three males and a female. The sheriff did not have their hometowns.
Knudson called the mass stabbing scene “chaotic, scary. I am sure that anybody who witnessed this will never forget it. It is a tragedy, and I feel really bad for the families.”
According to a statement the family gave WBAY, Schuman was an incoming high school senior about to apply for colleges to study electrical engineering. He had started his own small business detailing cars and boats and was described as “mature for his age and had a forward-looking mentality that was uncommon for a high school junior.”
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On Facebook, Miu, who went by the name Nick Miu, wrote posts opposing gun control and pro firearms, sharing one that read, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” His profile picture is the American flag.
Someone claiming to be an aunt of some of the victims wrote on Nick Miu’s Facebook page that they were trying to protect younger kids from Miu. “You stabbed my two nephews and their two friends for trying to protect the younger kids you went after. I hope you rot in prison!” she wrote.
St Croix JailNicolae Miu
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Miu, Who Lives in Minnesota, Is a Married Man Who Wrote That He Works for an Engineering Company
FacebookNicolae Miu
According to his Facebook page, which is under the name Nick Miu, he is from the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, went to Robbinsdale Armstrong Senior High in Plymouth, studied mechanical engineering at South Dakota State University, “works at Ritchie” and lives in Prior Lake, about 28 miles south of Minneapolis. He is married, according to his Facebook page.
Miu told police he worked at Ritchie Engineering as a mechanical engineer and had two bachelor’s degrees, in engineering and mathematics. He had never been in trouble with the law before, the criminal complaint says he told police.
He works as a design engineer, according to a cache of an old LinkedIn page. Another LinkedIn page, though, says he works in “warranty-technical support” for Ritchie Engineering Co. Inc. and has worked there for 16 years. Facebook posts indicate his current wife is named Sandi Miu. A previous marriage ended in divorce, according to court records.
According to Travel Wisconsin, “The Apple River is a 77.5 mile-long tributary of the St. Croix River. Outfitters in and around Somerset provide rentals and transportation for this popular tubing river. The first half of the trip offers relaxed family floating. The last half features a wild rapids area for the daring and a walkway along the side for the less adventurous.”
There is a 1999 court case involving a Nicolae Miu Sr. in Minnesota that alleges he thought a KGB plot was out to get him through an adult son named Mihai Miu. It prohibits him from contact with that adult son. However, online records show that there are three people named Nicolae Miu in Minnesota. The other two are in their 70s and 90s, so it’s likely an older relative, not the suspect.
2. Miu Shared a Post Critical of Gun Control Two Days Before the Mass Stabbing Incident & Wrote That He Received a Gun Inside of a Heart Box for Valentine’s Day
FacebookNick Miu post
Miu’s top post on Facebook showed a man, woman and young child aiming long guns with scopes. “This is quality family time and gun control all in one. Repost because the communist at Facebook are covering it up and deleting,” the post reads. He shared the post on July 28, 2022.
FacebookNick Miu
In 2019, Miu shared a photo of a gun with ammo inside a heart-shaped box and wrote, “Big thanks to my wonderful wife! I love my present! Happy Valentine’s day to you too!” He also shared a post from the NRA and posts about supporting Donald Trump.
He shared a post in March 2020 that read, “I believe in the right to keep and bear arms. A Facebooker has challenged all gun owners to put this on their wall. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right of an individual. If you believe in the 2nd Amendment, and you are not afraid to show it, re-post this!! Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
FacebookNicolae Miu
A woman wrote on his comment thread, “Quality family time? Like when an innocent 17 year old gets stabbed to death while enjoying some innocent Saturday fun on a river!? Wow.”
On July 21, 2022, Miu shared photos of boating on Prior Lake and wrote, “Lots of fun on Prior Lake….very busy!….great time with our friends….”
He also made a post about Twitter permanently suspending the account of the Republican running to challenge Rep. Ilhan Omar. The post called on “patriots” to reshare it. Nick Miu also shared a post critical of Bernie Sanders, as well as one showing former President Obama and for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton in jail. Multiple posts criticized socialism.
FacebookA post on the Nick Miu Facebook page.
Another said, “The coronavirus won’t last long because it’s made in China.”
3. Miu, Who Is Divorced, Had No Criminal History in Minnesota
Nicolae Miu, 52, Is The Apple River Stabbing Suspect. Miu Stabbed One To Death And Seriously Wounded Four
However, no criminal history comes up for him in Minnesota court records.
Miu was previously divorced. Court records say Miu’s first marriage, to a woman named Teodora, was dissolved in 2009. The couple had a son in 2005, but the records say the father lived in Minnesota, whereas the mother lived with her parents in Bucharest, Romania.
At the time of the divorce, he made $7,250 a month at Ritchie Engineering in Bloomington, according to court records. They say Miu was remarried. You can read more details on the final divorce judgment here.
“By J&D, Mother was granted sole legal and sole physical custody of the child, subject to Father’s right of reasonable and liberal parenting, both in this country and/or Europe, as the parties agree. Father has the right to visit the child in person or by telephone at reasonable hours and with reasonable frequency,” the Minnesota court records show.
The records show that Miu wanted to spend time with his son during the summer.
You can read them here.
4. The Suspect Fled the Mass Stabbing Scene, Officials Say
FacebookNicolae Miu
The criminal complaint describes a chaotic and dangerous scene. It alleges:
On July 30, 2022, authorities began to receive 911 calls at about 3:47 p.m. reporting a stabbing that occurred on the Apple River near the Sunrise Bridge. Reports indicate one victim’s intestines “were hanging from their body.”
One victim was found “without vital signs, and with a puncture wound in the upper abdomen near his left breast.” He was later pronounced deceased.
The other victim had a slash wound to the abdomen “that was exposing internal organs from the inside of his body,” the complaints. The remaining victims suffered a stab wound to the lower left abdomen, a laceration to the stomach and puncture wound to the upper left torso, and a stab wound to the upper left side abdomen.
Deputies were told the suspect was “Russian looking” and had run back upriver to the woods.
A citizen witness reported a possible sighting of the suspect, and staff at a campground pointed to a man in a camouflage shirt and shorts. He was detained. He was with a group of friends including his wife Sondra Dee Miu, according to the complaint.
Sondra told authorities she left her home at Prior Lake, Minnesota at 9:30 a.m. and arrived her her husband, Nicolae, at the River’s Edge campground around 10:45 a.m.
None of the group was camping. They were just going to float on the river and then leave. They started floating between 11:30 a.m. and noon.
The complaint continues to allege:
She said that, during the float, the only person who left the group was Miu, who went to try and find a member of their party’s phone that was lost. He put on “scuba” gear and was in the water looking for the phone in the river near a bridge.
At that point, she observed “a group of guys where Nicolae was looking on their tubes.”
She alleged that the “group of guys got off their tubes and started hitting Nicolae.”
She yelled and two members of their party started running toward “the fight.” She heard screaming and Nicolae and their two friends “came walking back.” She did not see what happened.
She stated that Nicolae had a knife in his pocket, but it wasn’t very big and she said Miu told her that the juveniles swung the knife at him and “that he grabbed it and moved it away.”
Miu’s wife said Miu tol dher the other group of people “were calling him a pedophile and attacked him.” She said that Nicolae’s knife was clipped on to his pocket.
Witnesses and victims told police that “a male was bothering a group of juveniles on their tubes.” They yelled for help. Witnesses said a group of people came and stood in between Miu and the juvenile and told him to leave.
“Witness statements indicated that Nicolae was being spoke to in a half moon shape with a route of egress from the confrontation. Witnesses described Nicolae as punching or slapping a female that was in the group confronting him, Nicolae was then punched by a male and fell into the river. Witnesses then described Nicolae begun (sic) stabbing multiple individuals who were near him,” the complaint says.
The complaint alleges:
He had a knife with a three-inch silver blade. The knife was found in the river along a bank.
Police reviewed a video.
It shows Miu, who was shirtless and carrying goggles with a snorkel attached, run up to the group and grab onto their tubes with people in the tubing party telling him to “get away.”
He then stood up and walked around the tubes appearing to be looking for something. He began walking away with his back to the party and then turned around to say something while pointing at the group. He turned to walk back toward the bridge and more individuals converged toward Miu, yelling for him to walk away.
Miu walked toward a female who was walking toward the confrontation and appeared to be pointing down river and telling Miu to go away.
In the video, people expressed that “he was looking for little girls” and a larger group converged with multiple people yelling at Miu and at least one person touched his shoulder. People were on three sides of Miu at different distances. There was opportunity for him to leave, the complaint contends.
It further states:
He was confronted by two women. His hand was touching the knife in his right cargo pocket. Soon after, while in conversation, he removed it and opened it, exposing the blade.
Multiple people converged toward Miu. The camera panned back and showed Miu falling backward into the water. While laying in the water, he was slapped with an open hand on the left side of his face. He was holding the knife erect. He appeared to be getting to his feet when he was shoved in the back by an individual. He emerged form the water with the knife in his hand. A person advanced to shove him again, and he stabbed the person in the stomach while he then stood up and was shoved back into the water on his back, the complaint says.
He then stood up with the knife in his right hand. A woman moved away holding her left side. A male touched Miu’s back. Miu extended his arm in a stabbing motion, it says.
He is then shoved with two hands near his neck and makes another stabbing motion. He then ran off.
There was enough blood in the river that the water turned into a red tint in places.
Another video showed the end of the confrontation. Individuals were fleeing from a person who appeared to be Miu.
He stopped at a person who was lying in the river. He bent over and appeared to be holding him out of the water.
During an interview, a witness described Miu as looking through them and his behavior as “disgusting” and “looking really weird and sketchily.” Two other witnesses said that Miu had punched a woman in the left side of her face. Miu was only punched after he initially struck the woman, the witness told police.
The suspect left the scene after the stabbings, the sheriff said. It took some time for authorities to get “up river,” the sheriff said, adding that the stabbings occurred near the Sunrise Bridge by the “old Sunrise Park.”
Deputies arrived and, with the help of other people and “tubers,” they began to administer life-saving measures and evacuate people. People suffered a “range of knife wounds,” he said.
The surviving victims are all in their early 20s. A perimeter was set up and mutual aid was called for, the sheriff said. Authorities located the suspect with the help of witnesses, and he was taken into custody without incident.
BREAKING: One person is dead and four others in critical condition after a stabbing on the Apple River in Somerset, Wisconsin, a popular tubing area. Authorities say the suspect is now in custody and it’s unclear if it was a random attack. @WCCO
The victims suffered torso and body injuries. Authorities are searching the area for the knife. The sheriff said someone had taken a photo of the suspect. Knudson said it’s been maybe 15 years since a stabbing had taken place in the area. “I don’t know what to make of it,” he said.
“It’s best for me not to speculate what was the tipping point today,” said Knudson.
The suspect was not previously known to authorities. One victim was “walking wounded” but all victims have critical injuries, the sheriff said.
In a written statement, the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department said:
Please be advised, the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office responded to a critical incident on the Apple River in the Town of Somerset. Five people received stab wounds and are currently in a range of serious to critical condition. A Suspect has been located and TAKEN INTO CUSTODY, there’s no further threat to the public. We’re still actively investigating this incident. The names of the victims and suspect are being withheld at this time. Sheriff Knudson will provide an official press release at a later time.
Thank you to the following agencies and our partners for their assistance, Somerset Police Department, New Richmond Police Department, WI DNR, Oak Park Heights Police Department, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Lakeview EMS, and Somerset Fire and Rescue.
5. Miu Claimed the Knife Attack Was Self Defense
FacebookNicolae Miu
The criminal complaint says that Miu told authorities “it was self-defense” and that “there were a lot of people that came onto him” and that they had two weapons and hit him and were on top of him and “I don’t remember anything after that.”
He said he was “so fearful” for his safety.
Miu said he was called a child molester. He told the group if he was a child molester and they were children they shouldn’t be drinking alcohol. He said the group took his snorkel and threw it and tried to pull his trunks down. One kid had a knife on him, he told police.
He said he took a knife from a person.
He said that a friend had lost a phone so he was helping look for it. He said he asked the group if they had found a cell phone and the group got off their tubes
“They attacked me,” Miu told police.
People expressed shock on the Sheriff’s Department’s comment thread.
“This is so rare for our area here. There has to be more to this story. Going down the apple doesn’t have to be and usually isn’t dangerous. Good job everyone for ending the madness but let’s not let this be a continued trend in our absolutely beautiful village,” one woman wrote.
Another woman wrote, “My son was there, thankfully he answered right away. He had already left when the incident took place. Until I heard his voice, I was in a nightmare. My heart is breaking for the family of the deceased.”
A woman wrote on Miu’s Facebook page, “not to mention that 2 of the boys father had to witness his sons being stabbed but unable to get to them to intervene on his BIRTHDAY nonetheless.”