NEW ULM — The Brown, Lyron, Redwood and Renville County Emergency Response Unit (BLR-ERU) responded to a firearm incident in New Ulm Friday morning in connection to a suspicious death investigation in rural Lake Crystal.

Thursday, Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to an unresponsive woman located in a house north of Highway 60 in Lake Crystal. First responders arrived on the scene and confirmed she was dead and the circumstances surrounding her death were consider suspicious.

The deceased woman has since been identified as 57-year-old Kristi Joy Gardner of rural Lake Crystal. Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Offices has listed her death as a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

Early in the investigation, law enforcement determined that Gardner had been involved in a relationship with 64-year-old Gary Mark Rodewald of New Ulm and began efforts to locate him overnight.

Rodewald was located in a vehicle inside a garage at his residence in New Ulm Friday morning.

BLR-ERU was called to assist because of the nature of the investigation and involvement of a firearm. BLR-ERU made contact with Rodewald just before 6 a.m. and found him unresponsive due to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Rodewald was transported by ambulance to a regional hospital in Minneapolis and remains unresponsive in the intensive care unit.

Numerous law enforcement agencies and medical personnel throughout the area assisted in the initial response and continued investigation. The incident remains under investigation by the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Minneosota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.