Authorities charged a man Wednesday in a shooting in Minneapolis' Hawthorne neighborhood earlier this week, after they say he tracked down and shot the man he believed had stolen his vehicle.
Burglary victim tracks down, shoots suspect in Minneapolis, charges say
He located his own vehicle, stolen after business was burglarized, complaint says.
November 3, 2021 at 10:25PM
According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Christopher Kilburn, 45, faces a charge of second-degree assault in the shooting, which occurred Tuesday in the area of N. Dupont and Lowry avenues. Officers were called about 7:50 a.m. to the area after reports of a single gunshot and found Kilburn standing over the shooting victim, holding onto the other man's pants and belt. The other man, who was lying facedown on the sidewalk, had a large gash to the right side of his head and a gunshot wound to his right hand, the complaint says.
Kilburn, the complaint says, raised his hand when police asked which of the two men had a gun; officers found a handgun tucked into his waistband.
A special agent from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the case.
Kilburn told officers that the other man had burglarized Kilburn's business in Brooklyn Center and stolen a company vehicle, according to the complaint. Kilburn then tracked the stolen vehicle to a north Minneapolis, where he found the alleged thief sitting in the driver's seat, he reportedly told police.
But prosecutors say the alleged victim turned to alleged suspect when Kilburn approached the vehicle and instructed the other man to turn off the engine at gunpoint. Kilburn told police he grabbed the man and pulled him out of the vehicle and made him face the van, telling him not to move. According to the complaint, Kilburn recalled that the other man struggled a bit and so he pistol-whipped the man, who tried to flee; the complaint says that Kilburn started to give chase, yelling "stop" before firing a single round at the other man as he ran away.
Kilburn said that after the other man tripped and fell to the ground, he grabbed him and called 911.
Kilburn remained in custody Wednesday, with an expected initial court appearance Thursday. No attorney is listed for Kilburn in court records.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter: @StribJany
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