A Brooklyn Park man was shot overnight after he confronted someone breaking into his car inside an apartment parking garage, then drove himself toward a hospital with a gunshot wound before a Robbinsdale officer located him along the way. The two suspects fled before officers arrived, and a K-9 search of the area turned up no one.
Brooklyn Park police said officers responded around 12:56 a.m. Sunday to a report of a shooting near the 6200 block of Louisiana Avenue North, according to KSTP. The victim told police he had interrupted a man stealing items from his vehicle inside the apartment garage, and he said a second suspect then shot him during the confrontation. He suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and began driving himself toward a hospital rather than waiting at the scene.
Robbinsdale Officer Finds Victim En Route
A Robbinsdale police officer located the man as he made his way toward medical care, per the same report from KSTP. Investigators who searched the garage afterward found evidence consistent with a shooting, and they also discovered that several vehicles inside had signs of tampering, suggesting the thefts may not have been limited to a single car.
Officers from New Hope and Crystal, in addition to Robbinsdale, assisted Brooklyn Park police at the scene, according to MN Crime. A police K-9 unit tried to track the two suspects but did not find them, and the station notes no arrests had been announced as of the report, with the investigation still open.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Overnight Car Break-Ins
The shooting comes amid a string of vehicle break-ins reported elsewhere in Brooklyn Park. Police previously said several vehicles in the city's Hartkopf neighborhood had valuables stolen early one Tuesday morning, as reported by CCX Media. In that case, officers said one person had a gun stolen out of an unlocked vehicle, underscoring the risks when firearms are left inside unattended cars.
A similar confrontation played out in Minneapolis, where a man was shot after confronting two people allegedly trying to steal his trailer in the middle of the night, KSTP also reported. Investigators said a single shot was fired at that victim before both suspects fled early on a Friday morning, and a possible suspect vehicle was later found burned near James Avenue North in Brooklyn Park, though no arrests had been made in that case either.
Brooklyn Park police have not released descriptions of the two suspects from the garage shooting, and the investigation into the attack remains active.
