DULUTH, Minn. – A quiet Lincoln Park street turned into a place of heartbreak on Tuesday afternoon when police found 33-year-old Darius Handy dead from gunshot wounds on the 400 block of Piedmont Avenue. The shooting just after 4:30 p.m. sent shock through neighbors who say they’ve never seen violence like this in their neighborhood.
Investigators say Handy was known to the person believed to be involved in the shooting, but officials have not named a suspect or shared a motive. Police have stressed that there is no danger to the public and that the investigation is active and ongoing. Officers cordoned off the scene for hours, and residents were asked to stay clear while detectives worked.
Neighbors told reporters they heard loud pops and saw a flurry of emergency vehicles racing past homes not far from West Fourth Street. One resident said her husband thought someone was pounding on their door, only to realize it was gunfire. Another described seeing more than twenty police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks converge on the street.
Friends and family members described Handy as someone with a troubled recent past but also a person with ties in the community. He was facing legal troubles earlier this year, including an arrest at the St. Louis County Jail in late January on suspicion of assault after missing a court date tied to an unresolved case. Those charges stemmed from an alleged incident in December where authorities say he struck someone with a vehicle amid a dispute over unpaid bills.
Handy had previous convictions in both Minnesota and Wisconsin that included domestic assault, threats of violence, and violations of no-contact orders. Despite those troubles, friends said they never expected his life to end this way on a quiet city street in broad daylight.
As the investigation unfolds, Duluth police continue combing through evidence and talking to witnesses. Officials have not said whether this shooting is connected to a separate deadly encounter with law enforcement that occurred later the same night in Duluth.
For the community, there’s a sense of mourning and confusion, with neighbors checking in on each other and struggling to make sense of a tragedy that left a man dead and many shaken.
