Tiago Antonio Gilbert, a 34-year-old Native American man from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was shot and killed in a brazen daytime attack on April 30, 2025. The shooting occurred around 1 p.m. outside the Mino-Bimaadiziwin Apartments on Cedar Avenue South, a building that also houses the Minneapolis office of the Red Lake Nation.
Gilbert was standing on the sidewalk with his girlfriend next to their parked SUV when the violence erupted.
According to witnesses, two men approached and opened fire on Gilbert. As he tried to run, he collapsed to the ground. The gunmen then got into a silver Chevrolet Impala, which was driven by a third man, and fled the scene. Inside Gilbert’s vehicle, his girlfriend’s two young children, an infant and a toddler, were seated in the back. A stray bullet struck the SUV, narrowly missing them.
When police officers arrived, they found Gilbert with life-threatening injuries, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later confirmed that he died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide. Investigators publicly stated that it was “entirely probable” that Gilbert’s murder was an act of retaliation. The shooting took place just 13 hours after and a few blocks away from a mass shooting that left four other people dead.
Authorities soon identified three suspects in the killing. Charges were filed against Jose David Vazquez-Rodriguez, then 22, and Victor Joseph Vasquez-Rodriguez, then 20, for second-degree murder. A third man, Raphael Joseph Rodriguez, then 35, was charged with aiding an offender for allegedly driving the getaway car. Arrest warrants were issued for the men.
The three men were eventually taken into custody and faced a joint trial in Hennepin County. On August 7, 2026, a jury delivered its verdicts. Jose David Vazquez-Rodriguez and Victor Joseph Vasquez-Rodriguez were both found guilty of second-degree intentional murder for their roles in the shooting. Raphael Joseph Rodriguez was found guilty of two counts of aiding an offender after the fact.
Following the convictions, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty stated that the three men were being held accountable for the "intentional act of extreme violence that took Mr. Gilbert’s life." As of the jury's verdict in August 2026, all three men were awaiting sentencing, which was scheduled for the following months.
