‘Cold-blooded killer’ in Halloween mask shoots restaurant customer, Minnesota cops say
Update: A 47-year-old man from Texas was arrested in Oklahoma in connection with a fatal shooting at a Minnesota restaurant, cops say.
Aaron Le fled in a white Mercedes Sprinter van, according to police in Bloomington, Minnesota. With help from officers in Kansas and Oklahoma, he was located and arrested at 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 24, about 11 hours after the shooting, police said.
Charges have not been announced. It’s unclear where in Texas Le is from.
“Our hearts go out to the victim and their family, as this should be a time of celebration for them but instead it’s a tremendous grief,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said in a news release.
The original story is below.
A man described as a “cold-blooded killer” opened fire in a Minnesota restaurant, fatally shooting a frequent customer, police said.
The shooting happened around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Cô Tu’ Oriental Cuisine in Bloomington, police said in a news briefing.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said the suspect was wearing a maroon hoodie and purple surgical gloves when he entered the restaurant. He was also wearing an “old man” Halloween mask, according to multiple outlets, including WCCO.
He was carrying a handgun and was wrestled out of the restaurant two times by a group of four or five customers, Hodges said. When he entered a third time, he began firing his gun.
A 49-year-old man described as a “frequent patron” of the restaurant died after being shot multiple times in the midsection, the police chief said. He has not been publicly identified.
Hodges said a 25-year-old restaurant server suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being shot in the leg and buttocks.
The suspect fled after the shooting and remains on the loose as of Thursday, Nov. 24.
The killing was Bloomington’s first homicide of 2022, according to the police chief. Bloomington is about 10 miles south of Minneapolis.
Police have not identified the gunman, referred to Hodges as “nothing but a cold-blooded killer.” A motive for the shooting is unclear.
“Do us all a favor and just turn yourself in,” Hodges said. “In Bloomington, you don’t get to shoot people and think you’re going to enjoy the benefits of a free society, because our detectives are going to keep looking and eventually lock you up.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2022 at 12:17 PM with the headline "‘Cold-blooded killer’ in Halloween mask shoots restaurant customer, Minnesota cops say."