Loring Park cashier found impaled with golf club in deadly attack at grocery store

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Police arrested a man after a well-known cashier was found impaled with a golf club in a brutal attack at a Loring Park grocery store Friday afternoon. 

The Minneapolis Police Department said just before 1 p.m., officers responded to a stabbing at Oak Grove Grocery and found a 66-year-old man with a "golf club impaled through his torso" behind the counter. 

First responders provided medical aid, and the man was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. The medical examiner will release the victim's identity along with the cause and manner of his death. 

Law enforcement said after speaking with witnesses at the scene, they located the 44-year-old suspect in a nearby apartment unit, who barricaded himself inside. 

A six-hour-long standoff ensued between police and the suspect, but authorities used crisis negotiators and its bomb squad unit to resolve the standoff, and the suspect was arrested. 

Authorities believe the suspect "bludgeoned and impaled" the victim, with no apparent motive at the moment.

"It appears the individual came into the grocery store prior to police arriving, came up to the counter with some items to purchase, then went behind the counter and began to assault and bludgeon the individual behind the counter in a very grotesque way," said MPD Police Chief Brian O’Hara following the stand-off conclusion Friday evening.

"This was an absolutely senseless and horrific scene," O’Hara added. "We know this neighborhood is hurting tonight because of this absolutely senseless crime… Thankfully, after six hours of negotiations the suspect was safely taken into custody."

According to O’Hara, the victim was well-known throughout the community, and it remains unclear whether they knew each other.

O’Hara said the city has had "a positive year" up until mid-October, but since then, authorities have been dealing with a rise in gun violence and murders.