On the evening of May 8, 2022, 70-year-old John Lee Colbert was fatally shot at his home in Byron, Minnesota. The sequence began when a suspicious vehicle pulled into the Colbert driveway and Colbert’s son went outside to investigate. The son saw a man hiding near a garage and returned to tell his father.

John Colbert armed himself with a handgun and, accompanied by his son, approached the detached garage. A man later identified as William Shillingford, 31 at the time, was seen in a shooting stance and fired multiple rounds, striking Colbert. Colbert was able to return to the house with his son but collapsed and was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound that struck an artery in his right forearm. Neighbors located Shillingford hiding in a ditch and officers apprehended him about 30 minutes after the shooting; a 9mm handgun was later found in a nearby unoccupied building. Reports say Shillingford and Colbert were acquaintances and that Shillingford had hunted on Colbert’s property previously.

Are there details about the evening or the relationship between Colbert and Shillingford that anyone in the area can add?