Guilty plea in Uptown shooting that left one paralyzed

1/23/2018

Eddie Arlondoe Burch pleaded guilty to shooting a man which left him paralyzed, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.

Burch, 30, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault for shooting a man in a barroom fight. When he is sentenced on March 16, prosecutors will argue that Burch should receive the maximum sentence, which is 117 months in prison.

According to the criminal complaint, on June 17, police responded to a report of a fight at Bar Louie, in Uptown. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man lying on the ground who had been shot in the back. The employee who called the police, said that he had seen the victim punching another man in the bar. The two started yelling at one another and went outside. The victim walked south from Bar Louie and the other man followed him. An altercation ensued where there was pushing and shoving. Then the employee heard two gunshots and saw the victim fall to the ground and the other man flee.

Officers spoke with the victim who was in a lot of pain. He stated that he was in the bar when Burch walked up to him, started talking to him and suddenly, for no reason, Burch grabbed the victim’s face and kissed him. The victim started to fight with Burch inside of Bar Louie, and when it went outside, he saw Burch pull out a black handgun and then the victim heard two shots and took two steps before falling to the ground, the complaint states.

Officers found at least two discharged cartridge casings and a handgun magazine lying on the northeast corner of Girard and Lagoon Avenues South, the complaint states.

In pleading guilty Monday, Burch said he could not recall certain aspects of the incident due to his intoxication, but remembered that he and the victim got into a fight that spilled outside. The victim punched him and then walked away. Instead of walking away himself, Burch pulled out a gun and shot twice striking the victim and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, he admitted.

Several bystanders who witnessed the incident provided a detailed description of the shooter and pointed police in the direction he ran. Officers saw Burch, who matched the description nearby. When they ordered him to stop, he ran, but police caught him, according to the complaint.