By Jo McMullen / KVSC Reporter

The Stearns County Attorney’s Office charged 45-year-old Jason Robert Beckman of Duluth with second degree murder in district court Tuesday in the random shooting death of a St. Cloud State University professor.

Beckman is also charged with felony theft of a vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Frederick Grunke set his bail at $2 million dollars unconditional and $1 million with conditions. The judge also ordered a competency exam for Beckman.

On Sunday, authorities say Beckman killed 68-year-old Edward Anthony Ward after a series of events. Ward was a Management and Entrepreneur professor in the Herberger Business School.

In the criminal complaint authorities detailed what happened early Sunday morning. Beckman drove a pick-up truck to Waite Park, where he abandoned it on Park Meadows Drive after it broke down. He later stole an Audi that was left running at a nearby business. He drove the stolen car to Sportsman’s Island Drive in St. Cloud.

Beckman told authorities he was lost and swerved to avoid a tree branch on the road, crashing into the front yard. He said he knocked on the door of a house for help and believed Ward, who answered the door, was a man he believed had pointed a rifle at him earlier that morning.

The complaint says as Ward slammed the door shut Beckman shot him with a 45 caliber tactical handgun , and the shot through the door after it was shut. Beckman then tried to kick in a neighbor’s garage door to get a new vehicle, but ended up fleeing on foot down the Beaver Island Trail, heading north toward SCSU.

He was arrested shortly after 7 a.m. after a security officer reported seeing a man with a hand gun on the trail. Beckman told arresting officers he was using controlled substances, was having delusions about his family and was making statements about his guilt in the shooting.

Authorities have a wide range of video surveillance footage of Beckman from businesses in Waite Park, from a neighbor’s “Ring” doorbell system and witness statements.

Beckman’s next court date has not been set yet, and is pending his competency evaluation results.