BROOKLYN PARK, MN — A second suspect is in custody in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy at a Brooklyn Park park earlier this month, according to the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
At approximately 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, Brooklyn Park police responded to a report of a shooting at Hartkopf Park, located at 7300 Florida Ave. N. Officers arrived to find a 16-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the head and provided lifesaving aid, but the victim died from his injuries, police said. He was later identified by law enforcement as Immanuel Kowo.
Following an extensive investigation by Brooklyn Park detectives, a Hennepin County judge issued an arrest warrant for murder. At approximately 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service located and safely apprehended the suspect, a 17-year-old male, in Peoria, Illinois, police said. The suspect was taken into custody without incident and is being held at the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center awaiting extradition to Minnesota.
The Daily Planet previously reported that a different 17-year-old was arrested July 9 and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, though a juvenile petition filed by Hennepin County prosecutors that week charged him only with illegal gun possession, not homicide, at the time. According to KSTP, charging documents in that case stated roughly 50 people were at the park when gunfire broke out, and that investigators matched a handgun recovered from the teen’s backpack to shell casings found near a jungle gym at the scene.
It remains unclear how the newly apprehended suspect is connected to the case or whether the two arrests are related to the same shooting incident. Brooklyn Park police have not released additional details about the suspect’s specific role in Kowo’s death.
Brooklyn Park police continue to investigate the shooting with assistance from the Hennepin County Crime Scene Investigations Unit. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
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