Jeffrey Wayne Milbrandt, 63, was killed on the snowy evening of January 25, 2026, in Rochester, Minnesota. Police were called to the parking lot of a children’s thrift store on Marion Road SE around 9:35 p.m., where Jeffrey was found with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a nearby hospital and died that night. Witnesses reported a loud argument beforehand; one person heard a plea of please, don’t shoot, followed by a single gunshot, and another saw someone in a hoodie fleeing in a pickup truck.

Investigators later linked the shooting to a home invasion about two and a half miles away. The suspect was identified as Jeffrey’s son, 35-year-old Michael Joseph Milbrandt. Michael was arrested after officers found him in the basement of a friend’s home following an alleged break-in and an apparent struggle in which the friend says Michael fired two shots at him. Michael has been charged with second-degree murder in his father’s death, plus first-degree burglary and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for the later incident, and is being held on $1 million bail.

Jeffrey is described as a husband, father, and grandfather remembered for his big heart and a resonant laugh. What details about that evening do readers in Rochester recall that might shed light on the events leading up to the shooting?