Man dies after being shot near I-94 in north Minneapolis

A man was shot near Interstate 94 Sunday evening in north Minneapolis before he drove on to the freeway and later died, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 5 p.m. near the eastbound lanes of I-94 near Dowling Avenue. Police said in a news release that multiple 911 callers reported the shooting, and said that the victim was last seen driving onto eastbound I-94. Police found the man, believed to be in his 30s, in a vehicle on I-94. He wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Police began CPR and he was taken to North Memorial Medical Center, where he died.

Police say that according to the preliminary investigation, the victim and an adult male suspect were outside their cars on Dowling in the area when the suspect shot the victim. Both got into separate cars and fled before the victim went down the entrance ramp onto I-94 and went off the roadway, striking meter lights and coming to rest along the center median.

Just west of the scene, a husband and wife lingered outside of their home near N 49th Ave and N Lyndale Ave, trying to see what was happening on the stretch of I-94 before them.

The man, who declined to be identified, left his house around 5 p.m. to visit a friend but found the freeway was blocked off. Then he saw a coroner van, he said.

His wife was shocked. "This is a rare occurrence," she said. "Gun shots are the norm, but dead bodies? No."

Eastbound I-94 was closed during the evening as police continued to investigate. No arrests were immediately announced. It is the city's 63rd homicide of the year, according to a Star Tribune database.