On April 9, 2012, 22-year-old Jody Lyn Patzner left his Minneapolis home on a bicycle around 8:30 p.m. to deliver lasagna to a family friend a few blocks away and never arrived. Ten minutes after he left, his family learned he had not shown up and saw emergency vehicles; Patzner was found fatally shot on the 3500 block of Fremont Avenue North and pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest.

A witness reported three young men confronted Patzner, yelling they wanted his bicycle, then two gunshots were heard and the men fled as Patzner fell to the sidewalk. Rumors in the neighborhood ranged from a robbery for the bike to a possible gang initiation. A few days after the shooting Minneapolis police arrested 24-year-old Hezekiah Hamilton, who lived less than a block from the family, but the Hennepin County Attorney declined to file charges, saying there was insufficient evidence; Hamilton was released.

The investigation remains open and Patzner’s family continues to seek answers. If anyone has information about the April 9, 2012 shooting on Fremont Avenue North, please come forward.