Police continue search for suspect in NE fatal shooting

Robert Urman, shown here in an undated photo, was fatally shot on Saturday. / Via Facebook

Minneapolis police continued their search for a suspect in the slaying of a man who was gunned down over the weekend outside a well-known watering hole in Northeast, authorities said.

Robert Urman, 36, of St. Paul, was found with multiple gunshot wounds early Saturday outside N.E. Palace, 2500 NE. 4th St., according to police. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died.

"I don't know if it was something where they just came out and had a confrontation or if it was something in the bar that was unsettling," police spokesman John Elder said on Tuesday.

A witness later told investigators that a man with a gun was seen running east on Lowry Avenue after the shooting, he said.

Homicide detectives returned to the bar the following day, searching for clues and reviewing surveillance video in hopes of identifying the suspect. A motive in the crime is still unknown, Elder said.

Elder said that investigators are following up on several "leads we've received form the scene and from people in the area."

Urman, who was known to family and friends as "Lil' Nutty," had been a loving husband and father, Pettis said. His interests included cars and raising dogs, she said.

"He was like everybody else, he had his flaws," she said by telephone, adding that "it's amazing to me the number of people that commented on various Facebook posts."

Urman leaves behind a wife and five children.

A vigil is planned for this Friday at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Lowry Avenue and 4th Street NE., near the spot where he was shot.

His death marked the city's second homicide of 2015.