Police: Stolen cell phone helps solve U of M shooting

A University of Minnesota student's stolen cell phone helped authorities track down two people they say are connected to a shooting on campus last month, police said Thursday.

A 19-year-old student was shot outside his dorm on Jan. 25, minutes after two different robberies were reported just blocks away. In one of the robberies, a female student's cell phone was stolen.

University of Minnesota Police Chief Greg Hestness said one of the suspected robbers used that cell phone, and it led authorities to be able to trace the web of calls back to the robbers' own cell phones.

Police arrested a 21-year-old man Tuesday night in north Minneapolis, and a 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday night in connection with the robberies and shootings. The juvenile has been charged with robbery, but formal charges were still pending against the adult.

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Besides the cell phone tracing, Hestness said video surveillance and witness statements helped police identify the suspects, which police believe are responsible for all three incidents as well as other robberies near campus and elsewhere in the city.

Timothy Schumacher was walking on a sidewalk outside the Centennial Hall dormitory on the East Bank Minneapolis campus just after 11 p.m. that night when two males approached him from behind. One of them fired a handgun, hitting Schumacher in the abdomen. He spent several days in the hospital but has since been released.

The adult suspect would have been charged Thursday, but authorities have been granted an extension to put together more evidence in the case.

Hestness said police continue to investigate the incidents and said they haven't ruled out the possibility that more people were involved.