GILBERT — In the early morning hours of April 25, within shouting distance of city headquarters, at least 11 gunshots broke the silence on Iowa Avenue. 

Noah Allen Larson allegedly fired a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun into an acquaintance’s house, leaving eight visible bullet holes in the structure, with one striking a couch where a resident slept minutes earlier. He then, charging documents said, pointed the gun at the head of a woman in her car before walking away.

There were no injuries.

Less than a month later, regional and local law enforcement executed search warrants in Virginia and Gilbert on May 16 and May 17, leading to three arrests and felony drug charges. Between the two raids almost 20 pounds of methamphetamine, more than a pound of cocaine and $21,761 were seized. 

On Monday, May 18, Dominic LeRoy Miller was allegedly the passenger in a car that stopped on the 200 block of Broadway Avenue. He exchanged words with two people before law enforcement said Miller exited the car, went to the backseat, and brandished a butcher-style knife. The two alleged victims retreated inside.

It was 1 p.m., broad daylight, on the city’s downtown main street. 

The string of incidents was an uncommon run for the Iron Range city, which features a handful of locally owned shops and an active bar scene at night. Still, the drug bust was the city’s second largest with 2 pounds of methamphetamine seized from Gilbert alone, and the sudden blitz of violence and drugs temporarily stretched the small police department. 

“In my 20-year career, the last two weeks have probably been the busiest and most serious calls we’ve ever had in Gilbert,” said Police Chief Ty Techar, to the city council on May 26. “The last couple weeks have been hectic.”

A thread pulling these incidents together is all three occurred at rental housing, and Techar said crimes in Gilbert were trending toward those properties. 

The city experiences around one second-degree assault arrest a year, he said, and there have been three through the first five months of 2026. Those incidents centered on rentals. 

Despite making up only 10% of Gilbert’s housing stock, 33 of the last 37 search warrants executed for methamphetamine took place at rental properties. About 56% of the city’s total disturbance calls originate from rental units.

Techar said this was not his first discussion with the council on rentals. He added that the police department was working with property owners on expectations and holding them accountable through enforcement if appropriate. 

“It’s becoming an issue,” Techar said. “I don’t know where that’s going to go. We’re trying to get ahead of it.”

Councilor Bob Pontinen suggested the city require landlords to register tenants with the city, which would help give the department more readily accessible information at no cost. Councilor Paul Skrbec said a rental ordinance could be put in place to require that action. 

They noted a register would benefit fire and emergency services knowing how many people are in a building. 

“If you just do the minimum and just require them to report the person’s name and how many occupants, that’s all we have to have,” Pontinen said. “Start with that, if that would help the police identify where the problem areas are.”

Knowing where tenants are would be helpful, Techar said, if done legally. He would also want the city to require updated contact information for landlords. The police have had difficulty reaching them after hours— at least one lives in California — and Techar said it has resulted in the department failing to secure a search warrant recently. 

Skrbec said there is a lot of past precedent for the city to work off. Legally, he added, it could define rental properties as a business and require a license with certain information provided.

“We are fully within our right to do that,” Skrbec said. 

Councilors also noted the city would have to consider staffing levels for enforcement of any new ordinance or license. Techar said rentals inspections helped Virginia reduce some issues, but it has a full-time fire department to perform code and compliance checks. 

“It’s just too easy right now, in Gilbert, to buy a house and rent it out,” he said.