Two assailants broke into the apartment of Frank K. Patterson IV on the morning he was shot, according to his half-brother, Carl Payne.

Patterson, 48, fought with the intruders before they shot him and fled, Payne said in an interview Wednesday.

The shooting, at about 4:30 a.m. in an apartment building in the 2800 block of Cedar Avenue S., left Patterson gravely injured with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was pronounced dead 40 minutes later at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Patterson's 17-year-old son witnessed the shooting, said Payne. He was one of three other people in the apartment at the time of the break-in.

Considering what the son must have witnessed, Payne said, the family has been concerned for his welfare.

"We'll have to get him counseling," said Payne. "He's physically OK, but mentally, if you lost a loved one, grieving takes on all kinds of shapes, sizes and bounds."

Patterson moved to the Twin Cities from Memphis in 1976 and graduated from North High School, where he played the drums. He had been living on disability after injuring his back in a fall from a ladder while house painting.

In addition to his son, Patterson had a 14-year-old daughter.