Suspect charged in shooting of Minneapolis father in front of his children

After 32-year-old James Andre Woodard ambushed and fatally shot a Minneapolis father on Friday, in front of his children. Divittin Hoskins died of a single bullet wound to his head. Woodard handed himself in on Tuesday and is facing charges of second-degree murder.

Suspect waits in hiding to shoot Minnesota father

As reported by CBS Minnesota, Woodard headed to the apartment complex where Divittin Hoskins and his family were living in north Minneapolis on Friday night last week and waited for him to arrive. According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified accomplice on the scene seemed to signal Woodard as Hoskins arrived and parked in the parking lot.

Woodard then allegedly crouched down beside a garage at the apartment complex waiting for Hoskins to leave his car.

Shooter executes Hoskins in front of his children

As Hoskins headed towards the building with his children, Woodard then ran up behind him and shot Hoskins once in the back of the head. While he was taken to hospital he died shortly afterward. According to authorities, Hoskins’ children were unharmed in the shooting incident but were “hysterical” after seeing their father killed. Police said acquaintances of the family led the children away from the scene of the shooting.

Authorities said several witnesses to the shooting identified Woodard as the shooter and the incident was also captured on surveillance footage from varying angles.

Suspect jailed and charged with second-degree murder

Woodard has since handed himself into authorities on Tuesday and has been booked into Hennepin County Jail on a charge of second-degree murder and is held on a bond of $2 million.

Authorities said there was also a felony warrant out for Woodard in Scott County.

According to a report by the Star-Tribune, the shooting was the 20th in Minneapolis so far this year. It was also part of a particularly violent weekend which saw around four other victims wounded in shooting incidents and a further seven people wounded in several stabbings.

The apartment complex where Friday’s shooting occurred also has a troubling history including the shooting of a 10-year-old girl last spring when a stray bullet struck her inside her home. That shooting occurred days after another shooting incident behind a nearby apartment complex. The controversial officer-involved shooting of an unarmed black man, Jamar Clark, 24, in November 2015 also occurred outside the same complex, leading to multiple protests.