Ariel Luis Barnett

He was thinking about robbing a bank or hijacking a car, prosecutors say. But then Ariel Luis Barnett passed by the Burnsville gas station where his estranged girlfriend was working Saturday night, saw her car in the parking lot and "lost it."
Authorities say he walked in, fired a sawed-off shotgun into the ceiling and pointed the gun at her head.
"I'm here to kill you," Barnett told her, according to police, "but I can't."
For the next hour, he held her and her co-worker hostage in the store, menacing them with the gun and repeatedly threatening to shoot them until a Burnsville police officer talked him into giving himself up.
Barnett, 31, of Burnsville was charged Tuesday in Dakota County District Court with felony assault and kidnapping. He remains in jail with bail set at $250,000.
According to the charges:
Barnett and the woman involved had been in a seven-year relationship and have four children together. They recently separated, and he told police he was "at his breaking point" because she cut off communication with him.
Barnett had a briefcase with him Saturday that contained a sawed-off shotgun, gloves, a mask and painkillers. He told police he considered using these items to rob a bank or forcing someone to drive around and give him money