Walter Nathaniel Haynes was 30 when he was shot just after 2 a.m. on January 7, 2017, near the intersection of 3rd Street and 1st Avenue North in downtown Minneapolis. Friends say a fight inside a club spilled into the street and Haynes, known as Big Walt, stepped in as a peacemaker. He was critically injured, taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, and died of his wounds on January 9, 2017. Two other people — a man and a woman — were also shot that night and survived.

Haynes was remembered as a joyful, caring person and a standout basketball player at Johnson High School in St. Paul, noted for his toughness and brash personality. Minneapolis police interviewed witnesses and sought nearby surveillance footage, but no arrests have been announced and the case remains unsolved. If anyone has information that could help bring answers about what happened that early January morning, please come forward.