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Authorities say one person is dead, another injured and a suspect in custody after a series of shootings and gunfire Tuesday that started in Minneapolis and ended near Willmar.

The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said the reported crime spree ended when the male suspect allegedly fatally shot 55-year-old Jerome Skluzacek during an attempted carjacking along the Highways 71-23 bypass southeast of Willmar. The suspect was apprehended soon after.

MPR News does not name suspects until they have been charged.

“Today, multiple lives were put in harm’s way, with one person sadly losing their life,” Imran Ali, a spokesperson for the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office, said in a news release Tuesday night. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. Please continue to hold the victims, their families and our first responders in your prayers today.”

Prior to the attempted carjacking, the suspect also reportedly shot and wounded a man at a rural Kandiyohi County home. The 

 that it apparently happened at a home near Lake Lillian.

Charges against the suspect are pending. The names of the other victims have not been released.

According to information released by Minneapolis police and the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office, the gunfire started with a domestic violence situation that happened at about 12:30 p.m. on the 2900 block of Lyndale Avenue South.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said officers responded to a 911 call of shots fired. Bystanders told them a person was shooting from an apartment balcony.

O’Hara said the suspect shot at — but did not hit — his ex-girlfriend and her new partner as the woman was retrieving belongings from an apartment. 

“It appears there was an altercation between these two parties prior to the shots being fired, that one party was here to get belongings from the residence, and then the altercation then led to shots being fired at the parties while they were in the driveway, by the individual who was on the balcony,” O’Hara said. “That being said, I do not have any information to indicate that there had been a history of domestic violence between these two individuals.”

O’Hara said they had a child together, and that the child is now in the care of another family member. 

O’Hara said officers eventually determined that the suspected shooter was no longer in the apartment and had left the city. Crisis negotiators reached him by phone to try to get him to peacefully surrender. 

O’Hara said the situation is weighing especially heavy on the crisis negotiators who were on the phone with the suspect. 

“I know our officers did absolutely everything they could, but it appears clear that this person was homicidal and just bent on committing violence,” O’Hara said.

The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are among the agencies investigating the crimes.

A 24-hour statewide sexual violence and domestic violence hotline is available in Minnesota. You can call 

MPR News Staff

Author

Multiple agencies are investigating after a domestic violence situation in Minneapolis led to additional crimes west of the Twin Cities and the suspect’s eventual arrest.

One dead, one injured, suspect in custody after crime spree stretching from Minneapolis to Willmar

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