Victim identified, charges pending in fatal rampage that spanned several counties
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Murder charges are expected soon against a man who allegedly went on a violent rampage that started with a domestic assault in south Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon and ended in Willmar hours later with one person dead and another wounded. The suspect is in custody.
The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that Jerome Skluzacek, 55, of New London was killed when the 25-year-old suspect tried to carjack him.
MPR News is not naming the suspect because prosecutors have yet to file formal criminal charges. He is jailed in Kandiyohi County without bond on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Authorities said that before killing Skluzacek, the suspect shot and wounded a man at a rural home near Lake Lillian. The victim of that shooting, also 25, is in stable condition and is expected to survive.
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Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters Tuesday that around 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a 911 call about someone firing shots from the balcony of an apartment building at 29th Street and Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis. O’Hara said police spoke with two people at the apartment.
“One is the ex-girlfriend of the individual that was shooting as well as her current boyfriend,” O’Hara said. “Other officers responded and eventually made their way into the building and identified the apartment. Police officers were uncertain if the individual was still in that apartment at that time.”
O’Hara said the suspect shot at — but did not hit — his ex-girlfriend and her new partner as they were in the building’s driveway. The woman was retrieving her belongings from the home.
O’Hara added that the suspect and his ex have a child in common. A relative picked up the child from a south Minneapolis day care center, which was put on lockdown as a precaution. Court records show that the suspect has a two-year-old daughter with a woman who lives in south Minneapolis.
It’s unclear when the suspect left the apartment building, but O’Hara said officers responded as if the man was still inside. After officers determined that the suspect left the city, the chief said crisis negotiators got on the line.
“Officers were able to make contact with the suspect via phone, and our crisis negotiators were on the phone with the individual for some time.”
With the suspect on the move, O’Hara said MPD sent alerts to law enforcement agencies west of Minneapolis.
The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office said officers pursued the suspect’s vehicle to the Highway 71/23 bypass southeast of Willmar, where the man allegedly killed Skluzacek. Sheriff Eric Tollefson and several deputies witnessed the shooting before arresting the suspect.
He does not have a previous criminal record in Minnesota — only traffic violations and a petty misdemeanor conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia.