The death of a 28-year-old man who was gunned down on a north Minneapolis street corner in mid-June and died three weeks later has officially been ruled a homicide.
Kibbie Walker, 28, had been on life support for several weeks following the June 12 shooting, in which he and a 30-year-old man were targeted while hanging out outside a home in the 2500 block of N. Dupont Avenue. Walker was said to have been showing signs of improvement before suddenly taking a turn for the worse. He died July 8.
Police officials hadn't spoken publicly about his death until Friday night, after Hennepin County medical examiners made their final determination that Walker died from injuries related to gunshot wounds.
The ruling marks the city's 34th homicide of the year. No arrests have been made in the case.
Walker, nicknamed "Prince Kibbie," had long been tied to one of Minneapolis' most high-profile gang slayings — and had been looking over his shoulder ever since.
In 2013, his name surfaced on social media as a suspect in the downtown club killing of gang leader Tyrone "Crack" Washington. According to court documents, Walker admitted to being inside the since-closed Epic nightclub when Washington was shot but denied pulling the trigger.
Washington's death was viewed as a major escalation in a bitter and bloody gang conflict that has seen onetime rivals align to form one of two factions whose respective territories fall on either side of W. Broadway. Police say the gangs taunt one another over music videos and often settle petty disputes with gunfire.
Walker, a former member of a competing gang, had been targeted several times in the past. He was shot in the chest and abdomen while leaving his cleaning job at Target Field with another man in 2014; two weeks later, police say Walker was shooting at a gang rival when he struck a pregnant woman in the leg, a crime for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
His life was also threatened after he testified in a federal gang case in 2015, authorities say.
Staff writer Libor Jany contributed to this report. Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648
