Victim of Aug. 22 Scheels suicide identified

Using information obtained from the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) through a public data request, EPLN has independently learned and confirmed the identity of the Aug. 22 suicide victim at Scheels.

He was Jordan L. Markie, 19, of Edina. EPLN confirmed his identity through social media posts and by contacting family members.

Despite several attempts over the more than five-week period since the incident at the Eden Prairie Center mall, EPLN has been unable to obtain the victim’s name from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office or information about an ongoing investigation into the incident by EPPD.

The medical examiner’s office and EPPD were contacted on Sept. 26, and each confirmed that no new information was available for public release.

August 22, 2022 – ‘Surreal’

At about 7:25 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22, a single gunshot rang out on the second floor of the Scheels store in the Eden Prairie Center. Customers and employees both in the store and in the attached mall scattered. Dozens of first responders from across the southwest metro converged on the mall after initial reports of an active shooter.

Authorities closed down the mall, the Eden Prairie school district locked down its buildings as a precaution, and hundreds of people evacuated the mall or were sheltered in place. At the same time, law enforcement officials tried to determine the extent of the danger.

“Surreal” is how Eden Prairie High School senior Jac Canham, 17, described the scene. He was working at his part-time job in concessions at the AMC Eden Prairie Mall 18 theaters on what he said is normally a fairly quiet Monday evening.

He never heard a gunshot, he said. But things suddenly changed.

“I saw people running from Scheels,” he said. “And then people started getting up from the food court and running out the doors.” It was then that his manager summoned him and others into his office and locked the door.

There, they scanned social media for information. There were phone calls to parents. At first, confusion reigned. Some said it was a man with a gun trying to shoot someone else, others said it was a suicide, and others could only report a massive police response filling the parking lot on the south side of Scheels.

As they searched for information, Canham said he and the others remained relatively calm.

“So, when it first starts, it’s like, surreal, it was like, ‘Oh, damn, you know, things are actually going down,’” he said. “You never really expected (it) at first and then when you are behind two thick metal doors that are locked, it feels a lot less scary.”

Blaring sirens warned of the danger inside the mall, and AMC closed the large gate that separates it from the mall. Photos taken by people inside showed law enforcement officers carrying long guns patrolling the mall hallway outside.

Soon, authorities announced that the shooter had indeed fired one shot — the one that killed him. They said he had gone to the second-floor area where guns were sold and managed to run away with a functioning handgun. He loaded it with ammunition he had apparently brought to the store and shot himself, they said.

After authorities searched the store and were convinced the danger had passed, employees and customers who had been trapped inside were allowed to leave.

Canham and his co-workers spent about two hours locked in the office, and moviegoers were locked inside theaters. Eventually, law enforcement officers escorted them to safety outside the mall’s east entrance.

Since Aug. 22, no information about the frightening events of that day has been released publicly.

‘Ongoing investigation’

EPLN made numerous inquiries of Eden Prairie police to provide additional information and were declined, with officials citing an ongoing investigation.

Because the incident had been clearly labeled a suicide, and because there were no additional injuries reported, EPLN inquired about the subject of the ongoing investigation.

After the EPPD declined an interview request with the detective in charge of the investigation, EPLN posed a number of questions in writing.

Were safety policies and procedures followed by Scheels employees? How are weapons in the store secured? Was there a relationship between the victim and Scheels? Did he know the employee who allowed him to handle the gun? Is Scheels changing its policies regarding how customers are allowed to handle weapons?

EPPD referred all of those questions to Scheels.

Scheels store manager Jason Heinz told EPLN in a Sept. 20 phone call that Scheels would have no comment at that time.

EPPD did say that no other agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) or the FBI, were involved in the investigation, although officers from those agencies did respond and were on scene the night of the incident.

The ATF regulates and licenses individuals and businesses that sell firearms. Eden Prairie has no role in that process, the EPPD said. 

On Aug. 31, the medical examiner’s office declined a formal EPLN public data release request. “We can provide (the identity of the victim) after the death certificate is final,” Molly Miller of the medical examiner’s office responded by email.

As of Sept. 26, no death certificate had been issued by the medical examiner’s office.

Summary leads to victim’s identity

In the course of its own investigation, EPLN received information about the ongoing EPPD investigation from an Eden Prairie resident who requested the release of public data.

The response included a one-page EPPD summary of the incident, including basic information such as the date, time and location of the incident, the case number, and the reporting officer’s name.

The summary did not name Markie as the suicide victim.

The summary included a list of six individuals mentioned in the unreleased police report and six others identified as witnesses.

Using the lists, EPLN was able to search social media and other sources to determine the names of family members and, eventually, Markie’s. When contacted by EPLN, Markie’s mother confirmed his identity.

EPLN has continued to reach out to Markie’s parents to tell his story.

‘Spirit Man’

 “Jordan L. Markie, Manidoo Inini – ‘Spirit Man’ age 19, of Edina, MN, traveled to the Spirit World, August 22, 2022, in Eden Prairie, MN,” said an obituary published Aug. 29 in the Red Lake Nation News, which described itself as “the official Native American news and information source of the Red Lake Indian Reservation and the surrounding Native American communities in Minnesota.”

Markie was born Feb. 20, 2003, in Puposky, Minn., an unincorporated community in Beltrami County, about 14 miles south of Lower Red Lake.

According to the obituary, Markie grew up in Andover and Edina and graduated from Edina High School. He loved music, it said, especially rap, and he played piano and wrote his own songs.

“He was interested in medieval history, loved swords, and even made his own costumes and fabricated a metal suit of armor,” the obituary continued. “He will be remembered as a quiet, sweet, well-dressed, kind-hearted kid who loved his family.”

Markie is survived by his parents and five siblings. His funeral was held on Aug. 29 at the Red Lake Center in Red Lake.

A GoFundMe fundraiser for a Jordan Markie memorial and funeral fund has been started.

Dial 988 for help

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources, and best practices for professionals in the U.S.

The 988 system is now active across the country. The new, shorter phone number is intended to make it easier for people to remember and access mental health crisis services. The previous 1-800-273-TALK (8255) number will remain active indefinitely.

Editor’s note: Stuart Sudak and Brad Canham contributed to this story.