On the afternoon of February 23, 2026, two brothers were shot and killed inside a home on the 4200 block of Irving Avenue North in north Minneapolis. Fourteen-year-old Xavier Barnett and his 23-year-old brother, Akwane Stewart, died in the attack. Their grandmother and four other children were inside the residence at the time and were not physically harmed.

Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Eddie Duncan, a cousin of the victims. Duncan had been released earlier that day from Hennepin County Jail on a $35,000 bond after a February 15 arrest for fleeing police and possessing a handgun that had been modified to fire fully automatically. Investigators say Duncan went to the family home to confront relatives about that arrest; the confrontation ended with the fatal shootings.

After fleeing the scene, Duncan was located in nearby Brooklyn Center following reports of a man waving a gun outside businesses. Officers who confronted him exchanged gunfire with Duncan; he was shot and killed by police. No officers were injured. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

Xavier was remembered by friends, coaches and neighbors as a kind young lineman for the youth football team Band of Wolves and as a big brother figure in the neighborhood. Does anyone in the community have information about the confrontation earlier that day or about events leading up to the shooting?