An ongoing dispute involving a woman, her former boyfriend and another man apparently led to a deadly shooting late Monday in Blaine.

Authorities say the three had been involved in a series of heated telephone conversations in recent weeks that likely led up to Monday's confrontation, in which a man shot the woman's former boyfriend about 11:25 p.m. outside a residence in the 9700 block of NE. 6th Street, said Lt. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.

"This is just another chapter in the dispute," Sommer said.

Sommer declined to give the nature of the dispute until charges are filed against a Columbia Heights man who allegedly pulled the trigger. That man and the victim's former girlfriend showed up at the victim's house and there was "an immediate confrontation," Sommer said.

The victim, 26, was shot multiple times. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he died early Tuesday. The victim's name has not been released.

The suspects left the scene on foot but returned a short time later. Police arrested them and recovered a .40-caliber handgun.

The suspects were being held in the Anoka County jail. Charges were pending, police said.

It was the first homicide this year in Blaine.

TIM HARLOW