The shooting death of Nehemiah Steverson, 17, early Sunday was not gang related, a Minneapolis police spokesman said Thursday. The case remains under investigation, and authorities cannot yet release more details to explain what happened in the moment before the Edison High School junior was fatally shot, said department spokesman Scott Seroka.

Police have not yet publicly stated whether he was the intended target of the shooter or if he was hit accidentally. Several witnesses to the 2 a.m. shooting outside a north Minneapolis house have spoken to police. No one has been charged with a crime.

Steverson, a popular student who had plans to live with family in Arkansas this summer, was found by police officers near the intersection of 16th and Newton Avenues north shortly after he was shot. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, but died several hours later.

Photo: Nehemiah Steverson.