2 fatal shootings less than 8 hours apart in Minneapolis

Shootings killed two people in Minneapolis within eight hours over the weekend, but police said the deaths don't appear to be related.

Neither appears to be random either, said police spokesman John Elder, adding that they were in "no way, shape or form connected."

The first happened just before 11 p.m. Saturday in the 2600 block of Knox Avenue N. Police were called to the area on a report of a shooting and found the victim, who was later identified as Earl Lee Malone, 18, of Edina.

One person was arrested. It's unknown when charges will be filed.

The second shooting happened shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday at 22nd Avenue NE. and 7th Street. Officers were sent to a "shots fired" call and found the dead man outside. Although investigators interviewed several people, no one has been arrested.

Friends and relatives identified the dead man as Eulailo Gonzalez Sanchez, 37, of Minneapolis. They said he had just gotten off the bus after visiting his girlfriend, who lived in the Central neighborhood, family members said. He was only a few blocks from home and still texting with her when neighbors heard shots fired, said Nayalie Garcia, a family friend.

"He was texting with his girlfriend while that happened and two minutes later, he never answered. And they called and texted and he never answered," Garcia said.

Garcia said that Sanchez, who came to Minneapolis from Mexico in the 2000s, was a homebody who worked two jobs to pay the rent on the apartment he shared with his sister.

Sunday afternoon, a handful of friends and family members stood around Sanchez's sister as she wept beside the four candles marking the spot where, only hours before, her brother's body lay sprawled.

Authorities are awaiting official identification of both shooting victims by the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

The weekend deaths are the 25th and 26th homicides in Minneapolis this year. That number is about average for the city, Elder said.

Police Chief Janeé Harteau plans to hold a "listening session" soon, Elder said. The chief pulled out of a community forum Thursday night because of the "potential for physical violence."

Harteau "really, really likes public input," Elder said, "but it has to be done with public safety in mind."

Staff writers Paul Walsh and Libor Jany contributed to this report. Pat Pheifer • 952-746-3284