Family identifies man shot, killed while working at Uptown Minneapolis business

Minneapolis police are investigating the city’s 71^st homicide of the year after an overnight shooting in the Uptown neighborhood, the department said Monday.

A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photographer saw many officers at the scene on Lagoon and Fremont avenues after 12 a.m. Monday. Police say the shooting happened sometime before 11:45 p.m. Sunday.

Fifth Precinct officers responding to the report of a shooting found one man lying inside a business with a life-threatening gunshot wound, and despite officers’ first aid efforts, the man died before medics arrived.

Monday afternoon, family members confirmed the victim was 23-year-old Gabriel “Dino” Mendoza. A GoFundMe was also set up to help his family.

“He was everything to us,” Mendoza’s sister told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

“There’s a lot of people that love him and miss him and touched a lot of lives,” she added.

She asked not to be shown or have her name used but told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Mendoza was working as a security guard at Fire House Uptown when he was shot.

“It was packed, I saw all the Instagram and Snapchat videos from the place, it was completely packed, there were lots of people there, someone at the very least saw his last moment,” his sister said.

“We want justice for my brother, we don’t want him to be seen as another homicide in Minneapolis, like all of these numbers we keep seeing on the news, they are actual people whose families are missing them every single day, they are not just another homicide that’s going on,” she added.

Fire House Restaurant and Lounge also issued a statement Monday afternoon, saying:

“It’s come with great sadness that one of our own Gabriel ‘Dino’ Mendoza has passed away.

“He was more than a security guard to us at Fire House he was part of the family. And because of that we will forever be in his debt.

“To the Mendoza family there are no words to express the hurt you are going through at this time we will help in any way we can and stand behind you 100% and you have our deepest condolences and we will help to get your family justice.

“As for Fire House we will be closed until further notice so our staff and his family can grieve and mentally process this situation.

“As for a our patrons thank you for your support from the time we’ve opened our doors it doesn’t go unnoticed but give us this time to work towards making Fire House better and safer for all.”

Fire House Restaurant and Lounge

The police department says it has not arrested any suspects but the shooting is under investigation.

Anyone with information should call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit an online tip here.