A man was shot and killed in his company’s south Minneapolis parking lot Thursday morning after confronting someone trying to steal from a vehicle.
Minneapolis Third Precinct officers responded a little before 7 a.m. to the fenced employee lot of Cornerstone Parking Group, in the 2600 block of 32nd Avenue S., to reports of an injured man, Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters at the scene.
The officers attempted medical aid and requested emergency medical responders, but the man, who was in his 40s, died at the scene.
Police believe there was a brief struggle after the man exited the Cornerstone office and found the suspect in the parking lot trying to steal from a vehicle that was not owned by the victim, O’Hara said. At some point during the struggle the suspect shot the man.
The struggle happened around 6:30 a.m., about 20 minutes before the victim, a Cornerstone employee, was found injured in the parking lot by co-workers. A call to the parking company’s offices was not immediately returned.
“This is absolutely senseless and tragic for someone to lose their life over an attempted petty theft,” O’Hara said.
The chief said the suspect was “rifling through the car in an attempt to steal something.”
“It appears [the victim] was here at the start of his shift, and he may have gone into the parking lot for whatever reason and then discovered someone who is not typically here was trying to steal,” O’Hara said.
