No charges, case closed in August suicide and lockdown at Eden Prairie Scheels store

No charges will be filed, and the case is closed in the Aug. 22 suicide at Scheels that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old man and a lockdown of the Eden Prairie Center, according to a statement released Monday by the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD).

The police report of the investigation compiled by the department is contained in a massive 42 GB online file. The inclusion of photos and video surveillance footage explain the file’s size, according to an EPPD spokesperson.

EPLN is in the process of downloading the file to review the report details.

Police had previously not identified the suicide victim — Jordan L. Markie, 19, of Edina. EPLN confirmed his identity in late September through social media posts and by contacting family members.

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August 22

The incident began at about 7:25 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22, when 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.

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.

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

‘Ongoing investigation’

The Scheels store manager did not respond immediately Monday when asked for comment. Scheels has previously declined to comment about the incident and whether employees followed store policies and procedures relating to the handling of firearms in the store and with customers.

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

Department representatives 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 spokesperson said. 

On Aug. 31, the Hennepin County 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.

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 it said were mentioned in the unreleased police report and six others who were 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 that the victim was her son.

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