Minneapolis police said today they are confident that a 17-year-old youth arrested Monday is the person who shot Michael Zebuhr to death March 18 in Uptown.

He was one of two people arrested in the shooting death of Michael Zebuhr last month during a robbery in Uptown. Three others remain at large

Also arrested was a 22-year-old Minneapolis woman. Neither has been charged.

"We are extremely confident that the person responsible for the shooting is the 17-year-old" youth arrested Monday afternoon, said Acting Police Chief Timothy Dolan. He noted Zebuhr's family was holding a vigil for him today in South Carolina and "our thoughts are with them."

Zebuhr, 25, was shot March 18 about 9:55 p.m. after having dinner and then walking to a car in the 3100 block of Girard Av. S. with his mother, sister and girlfriend. When two males approached, his mother gave them her purse, after which one shot Zebuhr in the head.

In addition to the three suspects still at large, police are hunting for the gun that killed Zebuhr and the car used in the crime, a white 1994 Ford Taurus with a Minnesota licence plate number of GFG 527.

Police said they know who the other three suspects are, but would not say how the five suspects are connected, nor anything about why Zebuhr was shot, other than that the motive was robbery.

Dolan said the two arrests were the result of skill, luck and the hard work of police, including homicide detectives Pete Jackson, Nancy Dunlap and Kevin Pulphus, who have worked many hours on the case.

Of the five suspects, only the woman arrested is an adult. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for another juvenile involved, who wasn't identified. He is the only suspect charged so far but charges are pending against the rest and could come as early as Wednesday, said Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. She said charges filed against the juvenile last week were sealed because the investigation is ongoing, but will be released when he is arrested.

Police released no descriptions or mug shots of the five suspects. Lt. Lee Edwards asked anyone with information about the suspects to call police at 612-692-8477.

"It will not get better for you if you are harboring these people," Edwards said. "Community people are bringing information forward. Eventually the net will close and we will bring you" in to be charged.

The two arrested were taken into custody without incident about 5 p.m. Monday near 33rd and Emerson Avenues N. by the department's Violent Crime Apprehension Team, which included two U.S. Marshals.

Those with information may call 612-692-8477, the police TIPS line.

"I feel very good about the case," said Dolan. "I've always said we're optimistic. I'm not going to say we're optimistic if we're grasping at straws. ... Getting this far from what we had initially is huge."

City Council Member Ralph Remington, whose ward includes Uptown and who lives a block from where the shooting happened, said police have said there were two other people in the car.

"I'm ecstatic," Remington said of the arrests. "I'm ecstatic."

Zebuhr, a native of West Virginia, was a Ph.D. student in bioengineering at Clemson University in South Carolina and was visiting his sister in Minneapolis.

Friends have described Zebuhr as an avid mountain biker and ski instructor who hoped to become a college professor.