Back-to-back fatal shootings in Fargo tied to ‘ongoing feud ... that obviously escalated’

Back-to-back fatal shootings in different parts of Fargo are “part of an ongoing feud ... that obviously escalated,” Police Chief David Zibolski said Monday.

Earlier Monday, police identified the man they say was responsible for the first shooting shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, when one man was killed and two other people were wounded outside the District 64 nightclub on Broadway near NP Avenue.

Officers arrived and gave immediate aid to the victims as some people in a large crowd started becoming unruly, according to police.

“Due to the size of the crowd,” a police statement read, “[personnel] was requested from surrounding law enforcement agencies to assist with scene control and ensure public safety.” Those agencies included the Moorhead Police Department and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota.

Along with the man who was pronounced dead at the scene, a second victim was in critical condition Monday, and the third victim suffered noncritical wounds.

On Monday, police identified the homicide victim as Azeem Holmes, 19, of Fargo.

Police allege the gunman is 22-year-old Tyrque Patrick Jones of Fargo. Court records in North Dakota show he’s been convicted of resisting police, theft, drug possession and terroristic threats.

At roughly 2:26 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a second fatal shooting, this one outside an apartment complex in the 4700 block of 16th Avenue S., police said.

Officers found a man dead, according to police. Police identified the victim as 20-year-old Elijah Hughes of Fargo.

As of late Monday afternoon, police have yet to make an arrest in that shooting.

“These two incidents ... are part of an ongoing feud between two groups of individuals,” the police chief said during a media briefing. “This appears to be going on for some time.”

Zibolski said his investigators “don’t know the motive behind the feud, but it’s obviously escalated.”