In the early morning hours of July 21, 2023, a call regarding a possible overdose led Minneapolis police to the Whittier neighborhood, a place known for its vibrant Eat Street. Arriving at the corner of Nicollet Avenue and Cecil Newman Lane just before 5:30 a.m., officers discovered a man unresponsive, not from an overdose, but from a gunshot wound.
The man, a 34-year-old Hispanic male named Alex Uel Castro Funes, was rushed to a nearby hospital, but the single gunshot to his right arm proved to be fatal.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed his identity and ruled his death a homicide. Despite the efforts of first responders and medical staff, Alex Castro Funes, a resident of St. Paul, succumbed to his injury. The initial report of an overdose had been a grim misdirection to a scene of violence that had unfolded in the quiet pre-dawn hours.
In the days that followed, details about the circumstances leading to the shooting remained scarce. The Minneapolis Police Department announced that an investigation into the deadly shooting was underway. However, as of late July 2023, no arrests had been made in connection with the homicide, and no suspects had been publicly identified. The case was left open, with authorities appealing to the public for any information that might shed light on the events that led to the untimely death of Alex Uel Castro Funes.
