ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) - Police arrested six people in the shooting death of a woman at an apartment complex near St. Cloud State University early Saturday.
Tiara Jo Martell-Dingmann, 23, of St. Cloud, was at a party at the building and apparently died of a single gunshot wound to the head, police said. An autopsy was planned.
On Saturday night, police announced the arrests of three St. Cloud men along with two 17-year-old males and a 15-year-old female. They included a 19-year-old man suspected of second-degree murder; the others were being held as accomplices.
Officers were sent to the building on a gunshot complaint shortly after 2 a.m. Police said the shot was fired outside the building during some sort of altercation, and that investigators didn't believe Martell-Dingmann was the intended target.
"I heard somebody arguing, and the next thing I hear was 'pop, pop!' At first, I thought it was maybe firecrackers, but I didn't think it was a gun," said Jeff Meemken, who lives nearby.
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Meemken and other residents said it's normally a safe neighborhood.
"I thought at the time, 'Those darn kids are shooting fireworks,' and I went back to bed," said June Goemer, who was awakened by the disturbance.
Police asked for anyone with information on the incident to come forward.
Martell-Dingmann's relatives were mourning.
"This girl would call me every day. Never had to ask her one time, 'Tiara will you do this?" And she was there for me _ always," said Donna Lenger, her grandmother. "Now it's gone. Because somebody took our joy away. It's not right."
