Crime & Public Safety
Man accused of death resident, wounding four at Minneapolis group home
A man is accused of death one person and assaulting four others at a residential mental health facility in Minneapolis. The Hennepin County criminal complaint charges 31-year-old Derek Duane Faulkner with one count of intentional second-degree murder and four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident.
Minneapolis police say they responded to multiple 911 calls from the facility around 6:36 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 28. According to the complaint, staff told dispatch Faulkner had already attacked three people and was actively attacking another with a fork while making threats. Officers arrived, took Faulkner into custody, and report he told them, “I think I died someone.”
Investigators found one man on the facility’s second floor with significant facial lacerations and blunt-force injuries; court records say that victim died shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday. Police and the complaint identify four additional victims: a man who ran downstairs with a bloody face and a head cut needing stitches; a staff member who alleged Faulkner put him in a choke hold and stabbed him in the arm with a fork; and two residents who reported being struck with a firewood log and a lamp post. The complaint attributes these allegations to witnesses and staff statements.
Faulkner is in custody at the Hennepin County Jail and is scheduled to make his first appearance on the Hennepin County murder charge. The criminal complaint notes Faulkner also has pending charges and a recent civil commitment petition from separate incidents in Sherburne County and at area hospitals, as reflected in court records cited by prosecutors.
All individuals accused of a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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All individuals mentioned in criminal allegations are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.