Police are investigating after a man was found shot to death Tuesday morning in a Maple Grove city park.
A person walking in Lakewood Knolls Park about 6:25 a.m. found the man unconscious in a grassy area about 20 yards from a basketball court and called police, said Capt. Adam Lindquist of the Maple Grove Police Department.
Officers determined that a young adult male "succumbed to a gunshot wound," Lindquist said. No weapons were found at the scene, leading police to believe that it was not a suicide and that somebody shot the man, Lindquist said.
The identity of the victim has not been released and police had not made any arrests as of Tuesday afternoon.
Police believe the death is likely connected to criminal activity, but have not said what might have transpired before the shooting. There did not appear to be a threat to the public, Lindquist said.
"We are trying to figure out why he was at the park," Lindquist said. "We need to get to the bottom of this for the man's family."
This was the second homicide in the northwestern Twin Cities suburb this year. Before that, the last homicide in Maple Grove occurred in 2014, police said.
Authorities had closed the park off 93rd Avenue N. and Harbor Lane and the parking lot of adjoining Emmanuel Christian Center Maple Grove as they investigated. By noon, the park and the parking lot had reopened, but the investigation by the police department, the Hennepin County Crime Lab, the Hennepin County Water Patrol and Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office continued.
