Worker shocked on Vikings apartment job site dies 2 days later

A worker shocked by electricity while on an Eagan apartment construction site associated with the Vikings has died.

Aaron M. Welle, 18, died Friday at M Health Fairview in Minneapolis, two days after the incident Wednesday afternoon outside a building at the Viking Lakes residential construction project in the 700 block of Vikings Parkway.

Welle, of Holdingford, Minn., was working at the time for J-Berd Mechanical, a subcontractor in Sauk Rapids, Minn., according to police.

A caller to 911 said "the victim was not breathing and unconscious," said police spokesman Aaron Machtemes. "The guy stepped in a puddle with an electrical cord."

Safety officials with Minnesota OSHA are investigating, an agency spokesman said. An official ruling on Welle's death is pending with the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.

The apartment complex, designed to include more than 250 units, is part of the Viking Lakes development rising near Dodd Road and Interstate 494.

Project spokesman Jeff Anderson said the construction team met Monday morning with workers on the site "to support their emotional health and welfare."

In the meantime, Anderson continued, "an investigation regarding the cause of Wednesday's incident is ongoing, and specific details are still unknown. We are communicating with Aaron's employer, J-Berd Mechanical, and fully cooperating with the proper authorities, including Minnesota OSHA."

Welle graduated in 2020 from Holdingford High School and "was a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky kiddo," read his online obituary. "He was a very caring and compassionate man and a great friend who loved playing sports."

A funeral mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Church of All Saints St. Mary's in Holdingford. Welle is survived by parents Jason Welle and Jennifer Feldewerd, brothers Hunter and Blake Welle; and stepsiblings Katlyn and Logan Minette.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482