Minneapolis, Minnesota: Man Arrested in Fatal Green Line Train Shooting After Four Week Search

Minneapolis police have arrested a 30-year-old man in the fatal shooting of a passenger aboard a Metro Transit Green Line train on October 3, ending a search that ran for nearly four weeks. Jaquan Darrian Edwards was taken into custody after investigators from several agencies identified and located him, the Minneapolis Police Department and the Metro Transit Police Department announced on Friday, October 30. Police said Edwards is expected to face a second-degree murder charge. No criminal complaint was included with the announcement.

The shooting on the Green Line

Shortly after 9 p.m. on October 3, officers responded to a report of a shooting on an eastbound Green Line train traveling from the Stadium Village station in Minneapolis, outside Huntington Bank Stadium, toward St. Paul. The train stopped at the Westgate station near University Avenue and Curfew Street in St. Paul. Metro Transit officers found a man with at least one gunshot wound. Emergency medical personnel and St. Paul firefighters tried to save him on the station platform, but he died at the scene. FOX 9 reported that the man who was killed was 36 years old. Police said the suspect left the train shortly after the shooting. Minneapolis police forensic scientists processed the scene, and homicide detectives opened an investigation with help from Metro Transit police. In a first release on October 4, Minneapolis police said no arrests had been made and gave the case incident number 26-287335.

How investigators found a suspect

Over the following weeks, detectives from Minneapolis police and Metro Transit police worked with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and other law enforcement partners to identify and locate the suspect, police said. FOX 9 reported that investigators from multiple departments worked with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and other partners to make the arrest. The announcement on Friday named Edwards and said the arrest followed that nearly four-week investigation. Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Billy Peterson credited investigators and their partners for the work, and he acknowledged the loss carried by the family of the man who was killed. Peterson said an arrest cannot undo that death, but he expressed hope that the arrest gives the family some reassurance as the case moves forward, according to the announcement. Metro Transit Police Chief Joseph Dotseth also thanked the agencies that helped. Dotseth said Metro Transit police will keep a visible presence of officers and security personnel across the system to improve safety for passengers.

What police have not said

The announcement did not describe what led up to the shooting, a possible motive, or any relationship between Edwards and the man who was killed. Police have not said in the reports released so far where Edwards was arrested. The investigation remains open, and Edwards is presumed innocent unless he is proven guilty in court. Anyone with information about the October 3 shooting can contact Minneapolis police by email at policetips@minneapolismn.gov or by calling 612-673-5845 to leave a voicemail, the department said in its October 4 release. Tips can also be left anonymously with CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).