3 Charged After Daytime Fatal Shooting Outside Minneapolis Apartment

May 4

*Cedar Ave. S. in Minneapolis on Wednesday.* ***SUBMITTED PHOTO***

Three men have been charged in connection with a midday fatal shooting in Minneapolis that left a man dead in the street while children were nearly struck in a nearby car.

Two men—Victor Joseph Vasquez-Rodriguez, 20, of Hayward, Wisc., and Jose David Vazquez-Rodriguez, 22, of Minneapolis—are charged with second-degree murder.

A third man, 35-year-old Raphael Joseph Rodriquez, of Columbia Heights, is charged with aiding an offender for allegedly driving the getaway vehicle.

All three are charged by warrant and were not in custody as of Saturday evening.

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Minneapolis police responded to a report of a shooting at around 1 p.m. on April 30 near 2111 Cedar Avenue South. Officers arrived to find a man lying on the east side of the street who was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.

A 911 caller reported that the shooters fled in a grey or silver vehicle. A witness described the car as a silver Chevrolet Impala with no rear bumper. Surveillance video showed the vehicle turning eastbound onto Franklin Avenue shortly after the shooting.

According to the criminal complaints, surveillance footage captured two men walking northbound on the sidewalk. One wore a black hoodie and was later identified as Jose David Vazquez-Rodriguez. The other wore a blue hoodie and was identified as Victor Joseph Vasquez-Rodriguez. The Impala stopped near the two, and a third person—wearing a black hoodie and identified as Raphael Joseph Rodriquez—got out of the driver’s seat.

Video showed both Victor and Jose opening fire on the victim, the documents say. The victim ran but collapsed after being struck. Both shooters continued firing as he lay on the ground before fleeing the scene with Raphael Rodriquez driving the car.

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Police later located the vehicle at Victor Vasquez-Rodriguez’s listed address in Wisconsin. Vehicle registration records confirmed Raphael Rodriquez as the owner.

The victim’s girlfriend told officers that she and the victim had parked and stepped out of their vehicle to smoke, leaving their young children inside. As she moved to check on the children, she heard the gunshots. She looked up and saw one male shooter standing closeby and another near the front of the apartment buildings, the documents said. She said the victim tried to retrieve a firearm from their vehicle as the shooting began and their car was hit by gunfire while the children were still inside.

Investigators recovered spent cartridge casings both where the shooters had stood and near the victim’s body. No casings were found near the victim’s vehicle, according to the complaints.

All three defendants remain at large as of publication. Prosecutors requested warrants for their arrests, citing the seriousness of the charges and uncertainty about their locations. Victor Vasquez-Rodriguez and Jose Vazquez-Rodriguez each face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Raphael Rodriquez faces up to three years in prison if convicted of aiding an offender.

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