On April 11, 2026, at approximately 2:06 A.M., officers were dispatched to a residence located in New Hope, Hennepin County, Minnesota, based on a report of a domestic assault. Officers were familiar with the residence based on previous calls. Officers arrived and made contact with an adult female, identified herein as Witness A. While speaking with Witness A, officers could hear an adult male, identified herein as Witness B, yelling inside the apartment. Witness A told officers that Witness B had made offensive comments about her and her adult son (identified herein as Victim), who was also present in the residence.
Officers also spoke to LIN ANDREW NEAL ([DOB redacted]), who claimed that Witness A had assaulted Witness B. Neither Witness A nor Witness B were willing to leave the apartment, so officers left but remained outside the building, due to the frequency of calls to this apartment. After a few minutes, officers heard multiple people screaming, including Witness B screaming “stop,” then screaming Victim’s name. As officers were trying to re-enter the building, they saw NEAL run out of the building. Officers pursued NEAL, and an officer observed that he was holding a knife in his left hand.
An officer told NEAL to stop, but he did not listen and walked toward the garages of the building. NEAL briefly walked out of the officer’s view, and when the officer saw him again, he was no longer holding the knife. NEAL then complied with the officer’s instructions to sit down and stay in place. The officer walked toward the location where NEAL went out of sight, and he located the purple knife on the ground. The knife was later recovered, and there was blood on the blade of the knife. While officers were pursuing NEAL, other officers went back to the apartment from the original call.
Victim came to the door of the building and told officers, “He tried to fight me.” Witness A repeatedly told officers that NEAL stabbed “him.” Initially, officers struggled to determine who was stabbed. Officers observed Witness B slap and then punch Victim in front of them, at which point Witness B was detained. Officers then discovered that Victim was bleeding from a stab wound in his buttocks. Victim was transported to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, and he later provided a statement to police.
Victim stated that he was asleep at home when he woke up and heard fighting. He saw his mother (Witness A) bleeding from her face. He then got into a fight with Witness B, and they were on the ground. While he was on top of Witness B, NEAL came over and stabbed him. An officer also spoke with Witness A, who reported that Witness B is her boyfriend and Victim is her son. She and Witness B were in an argument because she was angry that he was drinking. Witness B punched her in the nose, which caused her to bleed.
