Minneapolis police continued investigations Saturday into the deaths of two men fatally shot Thursday night in separate incidents.
The victims were the city's 19th and 20th homicides of the year, and the fourth and fifth victims since May 29.
In Thursday's first reported shooting death, a man's body was found inside a car parked near North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, but police suspect that he ended up at the hospital after being shot in north Minneapolis.
Police spokesman John Elder said a hospital employee noticed the car parked nearby and thought it was suspicious enough to alert a nearby Hennepin County sheriff's deputy.
The man in the car was dead from an apparent gunshot wound, Elder said.
He said police have reason to believe he was shot in the 3300 block of N. Colfax Avenue, where there was a report of shots fired, and was driven to the hospital or managed to drive there himself.
The victim has not been publicly identified.
Around 9:45 p.m. Thursday, officers were called to the 700 block of E. 14th Street on a report of a person with a gun. As police were on the way, they were told it was a shooting.
Officers provided medical aid to the man who had been shot, since identified by the Hennepin County medical examiner as Brandon J. Salter, 27, of St. Paul, until they were relieved by paramedics.
Salter was taken to HCMC with several gunshot wounds and died early Friday.
The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.
On Saturday, Salter's former employer, Curt's Cafe in Evanston, Ill., posted a Facebook tribute to him, saying he was killed while trying to protect a family member:
"We are heartbroken to share the loss of one of our early graduate students, Brandon Salter. Brandon was killed in Minneapolis, where he lived with his daughter and his life partner.
"Brandon had a smile and energy that could light the room. He also had love and dreams that were big and beautiful. Our arms are around Brandon's mother and family. We have lost an amazing young man."
On Friday, the medical examiner released the name of an 18-year-old Minneapolis man who died Wednesday after being shot several times at S. 15th Avenue and E. 24th Street.
He was Mohamedwelid Mohamud Muse.
