Duluth's first homicide of 2016 grew out of a barroom dispute, and two men are in jail and charged.
Eric W. Burns, 47, of Duluth, was fatally shot on Tuesday shortly after midnight at the front door of the Bedrock Bar, located in the 2000 block of W. Superior Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Aaron D. Humphreys, 42, of Duluth, was charged Friday with shooting Burns. Orin B. Vann, 53, with no known address, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Both remain jailed in lieu of bail, ahead of appearing in St. Louis County District Court.
Bonnie Aase, Burns' girlfriend, told the Duluth News Tribune last week that he moved from the Twin Cities last year and was known at the Bedrock Bar as the "Hot Dog Man" because he would bring a grill and cook in the parking lot on summer nights.
According to the charges:
Humphrey and Burns argued before the shots were fired at the front door of the bar, where a bartender said Burns and Vann had fought earlier that evening.
Burns, shot in the chest, was found in the parking lot between the Bedrock and Curly's Bar by a police officer who heard the gunshot. He died at a nearby hospital about 12:45 a.m.
Vann was found shortly afterward at R.T. Quinlan's Saloon in downtown Duluth after a bartender reported to authorities that a distraught patron was saying he was wanted by police. Vann insisted to police that he had shot Burns, even though video surveillance apparently showed Humphreys shooting Burns.
Police arrested Humphreys about seven hours after the shooting at a residence about 5 miles away.
His criminal history includes convictions for domestic assault, auto theft and robbery.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
