Police report outlines tragic events of Aug. 22 at Scheels

Jordan Markie walked swiftly through the south doors of the Eden Prairie Scheels store just after 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22. At the same moment, a young girl is seen walking at her father’s side as they approach the exit, each carrying merchandise bags.

Less than 10 minutes later, father and daughter presumably are on their way home and Markie, 19, of Edina, is dead after shooting himself in an aisle on the store’s second floor.

The Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) on Nov. 11 released its report on the Aug. 22 incident at the Eden Prairie Center store and declared the case closed.

The report, released 12 weeks after the incident, contains crime scene photos, 9-1-1 call transcripts, written reports from store employees, emails from the store employee who waited on Markie, and two dozen surveillance video clips of the incident.

EPPD Capt. Chris Wood told EPLN that a suicide note was not found and that no apparent motive was discovered.

Wood said that video evidence and witness reports showed nothing that led the department to request charges. “We did not observe anything that made us consider charging anyone,” he said.

Asked if proper procedures were used by Scheels employees, Woods said he did not know enough about the regulations regarding firearms sales to comment.

“I can, however, say that Scheels employees were very helpful and cooperative throughout the event and investigation,” he said.

Other witnesses agreed. One man who EPPD interviewed said that Scheels employees reacted professionally and “acted cool, calm and collected” during the incident.

For questions about procedures for retail firearm sales, Wood referred EPLN to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the federal agency that licenses firearm dealers in the U.S.

The ATF’s St. Paul Field Division did not return a request for information from EPLN.

Surveillance video

Much of the video surveillance footage in Scheels is captured by ceiling-mounted “fish-eye” cameras that provide a wide view of large areas in and around the gun department.

Unlike blurry video surveillance footage often seen on television, the Scheels video is sharp and clear. Markie can easily be seen wearing a blue and white plaid shirt and dark pants, even when he is on the outer edges of the video.

Surveillance cameras traced Markie’s every step from the moment he rode his bicycle into the Scheels loading dock area until he shot himself in the hunting section on the second floor.

Video shows Markie entering the firearms department of the store at approximately 7:10 p.m. He went to the customer service desk and spoke briefly with an employee. From there, he walked around the department looking into gun cases. At one point, he took a long gun, apparently tethered, off of its rack, shouldered and aimed it, and then replaced it.

Eventually, Markie is joined at a conceal-and-carry gun case by a Scheels employee who opens the case. He removes the gun, clears the weapon to check to ensure it is not loaded. He then hands Markie the gun, who holds it for several seconds before bolting to his right, away from the employee and out of the gun department.

At the same moment, on another camera, a Scheels employee behind the service desk is seen drawing a handgun as other employees yell, “Gun, gun, gun!” according to another witness. The surveillance video has no audio.

The interaction

According to the police report, the Scheels employee who showed Markie the gun said in an Aug. 23 email to EPPD Det. John Andrews that his interaction with Markie was “normal.”

“I asked if I could help him (and) he said he would like to see a particular gun,” the employee wrote. “I unlocked the case; he pointed to the one he wanted to see. I cleared it, handed it to him and while he was examining it, I pointed out the thumb safety feature, which he tried.

“I asked if this was going to be for carry and he said ‘yes.’ I also asked how the gun felt/fit in his hand and he said he liked the way it did. During this whole time (there was) no indication of [Markie] being under the influence, agitation, stress, anger, etc.”

In an Aug. 24 email, also to Andrews, the same employee said, “… this was pre-planned,” and went on to describe his reasoning.

“When the customer ran … he was headed to a nearby quiet corner of the store,” Andrews wrote. “There are only one or two aisles that go all the way thru … and the one he took is not visible from his position at the counter. You have to make a jog to the left to pick up that aisle. He had to have known this ahead of time.”

The employee said Markie knew exactly where he was going.

“When I watched him run to the other side of the store … I fully expected him to turn right, toward the stairs or the second-floor mall entrance to exit the store,” he wrote. “When he got to the end of the aisle that ran through Optics and Pets … he did not stop to see which way he should go, nor did he turn right. Instead, he turned left at FULL speed toward the quiet corner that he had pre-selected.

“No hesitation at all.”

The employee is described on his email letterhead as a member of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), and the National Rifle Association (NRA); as a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Certified Instructor; as a member of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Approved Permit to Carry Organization, and as an NRA Range Safety Officer.

The employee did not respond to EPLN’s request for comment.

The final few seconds

Moments after fleeing the gun department carrying the weapon, video shows Markie, in full stride, barely missing a small child.

In another video clip, Markie arrives in the hunting department, his image completely pixelized. Within seconds of arriving, Markie pulls the trigger and dies instantly. It is unclear in the video when Markie loaded the weapon.

In all, less than 10 minutes had elapsed from the moment Markie entered the gun department until he was dead.

In perhaps the most chilling footage, a man leading a dog on a leash, and followed closely by three children, ran down the aisle toward Markie shortly after the shooting. After getting within a few feet, the man sees Markie’s injuries and quickly leads the children and the dog away from the scene.

Moments later, a Scheels employee and another male customer enter the scene and remain several feet away from Markie’s body. Eventually, the employee moves the gun away from Markie’s body and places it on a display several feet away.

A short time later, the two men raise their hands above their heads and move quickly away from the scene after apparently being ordered to do so by arriving police who are out of range of the camera.

Several police officers then arrive and tell radio dispatchers that they have found the shooting victim.

Still uncertain whether anyone else was involved, police from several departments sweep both Scheels retail levels and several storage areas.

By this time, other officers have already traced Markie’s movements on the store’s video surveillance system and determined that he had arrived on a bicycle alone. Another officer finds the bicycle and the jacket Markie took off before entering the store.

Officers escorted a handful of employees away from the Scheels store, as well as moviegoers at AMC Theaters, and employees from other stores that had locked down. After finding no other victims or suspects, police begin clearing officers and fire rigs from other departments.

Police response

Immediately after receiving calls at 7:25 p.m. about a shot being heard in Scheels, dispatchers broadcast an active shooter message.

An unknown officer’s voice on the audio orders the implementation of mutual aid, which eventually brings 40 officers from 10 agencies to Scheels.

“The call came in as an active shooter,” Wood said. “We had two officers who were in the mall at the time the call came out so we were on scene within a minute.” Other officers who responded were there within a couple of minutes, he said.

“Overall, there was a very large response that was well coordinated by the initial officers on scene and throughout the incident,” Wood said. “Had this been an (actual) active shooter call we were well prepared to handle the situation. Fortunately, it was not.”

Police and fire department responses came from Bloomington, Chanhassen, Champlin, St. Louis Park, Excelsior and other departments, the Minnesota State Patrol and at least two ambulances.

Individuals in ATF and FBI jackets were also at the scene. They were there only to assist, Wood said.

Officers quickly organized and instituted tactical searches of the entire Scheels store and, eventually, the entire mall.

Edina Police contacts

On Aug. 2, Edina Police confiscated a replica revolver from Markie’s home after someone reported seeing a man fitting his description with a silver revolver in his waistband. The responding officer knew Markie and was familiar with his interest in airsoft and replica weapons. Airsoft guns are low-powered, realistic-looking gun replicas that fire plastic or resin-based projectiles.

“The revolver had no markings or paint to suggest it was not a real firearm,” the officer wrote in his report. “It had the same weight as a real revolver, however, the end of the barrel closest to the cylinder was sealed off.”

Markie’s mother told the officer she didn’t want the gun in her house.

“I took the replica revolver for safe keeping, photographed it and placed it into property evidence for safe keeping,” the officer wrote.

On Aug. 21, a day before he killed himself, Markie was spotted by an Edina officer about to enter the emergency room at Fairview Southdale/M Health Hospital. The officer greeted Markie.

“Jordan informed me he was coming to the hospital to receive ADHD medication,” the officer wrote in an information-only report. “Jordan asked me if the hospital was open and I told him they always were. I informed Jordan I recognized him and was curious as to why he was here. … He said he recognized me as well.”

Markie told the officer that the medicine helps him. “I told him that was a good thing, and advised him to give us (the police) a call if he needs anything,” the officer wrote.

Markie asked the officer his name, and the officer told him.

“Jordan then walked away from my patrol vehicle and I left,” the officer wrote.

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Scheels has not responded to EPLN’s requests for comment on store policies or procedures that were followed on Aug. 22 and whether any changes have been made in how employees interact with customers who want to handle firearms before purchase.

EPLN contacted Markie’s mother, who declined to comment on the advice of her attorney.

According to documents in the police report, Markie’s parents told officers who went to their home that night that Jordan had been diagnosed with depression and previously had exhibited suicidal tendencies.

Nobody in their home owned a gun, they said.

Officers’ notes of the conversation with Jordan’s parents indicate that he had recently signed up for a local program that works with people experiencing psychotic symptoms and their families.

If you or someone you know is in a crisis or struggling with suicidal thoughts, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call 911 in life-threatening situations.