Fire destroys vacant Minneapolis home where police found man shot dead just hours before

UPDATE 3 p.m. 10/29/22: The home that was destroyed in a fire Saturday morning was vacant, the Minneapolis Fire Department tells 5 EYEWTNESS NEWS.

“This was a vacant boarded residential structure with possible squatters,” said Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker.

As of Saturday afternoon, Minneapolis police and fire departments have not released additional information about the fire or the homicide that occurred overnight in the same location. It is still unknown if the two incidents were connected. Read an earlier version of this story below.


INITIAL REPORT 10 a.m. 10/29/22: Firefighters say a Minneapolis home is uninhabitable after a fire Saturday morning at 2711 15th Ave. S., according to a press release.

Crews went to the two-and-a-half-story home around 6:30 a.m. to find the fire showing from the front porch and first floor.

No one was found in the home during a building search. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is working to determine whether the home was vacant or if residents had evacuated.

Firefighters extinguished the fire on the first floor, then exited the building and began an exterior attack after it extended to the second floor and attic.

The bulk of the fire was out within an hour, according to a tweet from the Minneapolis Fire Department.

The department is investigating the cause of the fire. Authorities found a man fatally shot just hours before the fire in the same home, but Minneapolis police tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they do not know if the homicide and fire are connected at this time. The police department already processed the scene before the fire.

Check back for updates.