MN domestic violence homicides down; victims include bystanders

Twenty-four people were killed in domestic violence situations last year in Minnesota, including nearly half who were bystanders or intervenors, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 11 bystanders or intervenors killed are tied for the highest toll since Violence Free Minnesota began tracking intimate partner homicides in 1989.

The overall number of victims is down since 2023, when 40 people were killed in domestic violence situations — the most Violence Free Minnesota has seen since it began record keeping.

Last year’s killings included the high-profile ambush shootings of Burnsville officers Paul Elmstrand and Matt Ruge and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth. Police had responded to a 911 report of a domestic disturbance at a home.

“The Burnsville tragedy echoes so many others across the U.S.,” said Nikki Engel, Violence Free Minnesota interim co-executive director, pointing to the link between mass shootings and domestic violence.

In 2023, there were also 11 bystanders or intervenors in domestic violence killed in Minnesota. In almost all those instances in 2023 and 2024, the suspect used a firearm, Engel said.

‘Lives taken too soon’

Violence Free Minnesota’s annual report is not just about statistics.

“It is about lives — lives taken too soon, families forever changed and communities left with grief and questions that rarely find easy answers,” said Kaleena Burkes, director of Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office.

At the same time, “if we do not fully understand the scope, we cannot build the solutions,” Burkes said. “If we do not see the patterns, we cannot break the cycles.”

Twelve women and one man were killed last year in Minnesota by a current or former intimate partner, according to the new report.

Some of the violence against bystanders and intervenors last year involved multiple people killed at the same time, including the Burnsville shootings and two children who were shot along with their mothers in Duluth.

Intervening before a crisis

Alex Dominguez, program manager for Relationship Safety Alliance in Brainerd, said their community was shaken last year by the killing of 62-year-old Lyle Maske, who was trying to intervene in a domestic violence incident involving his neighbor and her children.

“His death is a devastating reminder that domestic violence doesn’t only harm intimate partners,” she said. “It pulls in neighbors, bystanders and anyone else who’s willing to act and try to help make change.”

While not every tragedy can be predicted, “many can be prevented when systems are equipped to act early and decisively,” Dominguez said. That includes enforcing firearm prohibitions, investing in culturally responsive services and “believing survivors the first time they reach out for help,” she added.

If people “are able to identify and intervene early in a domestic violence relationship, you are going to lower the risk of crisis point even developing,” said Jess Palyan, Violence Free Minnesota’s policy program manager.