Search for ‘Ox' after violent death in Columbia Heights apartment

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (KMSP) - Columbia Heights Police Department is investigating a homicide after a man was found inside an apartment early Thursday morning.

Officers were dispatched to an apartment on the 1000 block of 41st Avenue NE around 4:30 a.m., where they found a 31-year-old St. Louis Park man who had “succumbed to a violent death,” according to police.

The occupants of the apartment fled residence prior to police arrival. Several were waiting for officers and are now being interviewed. 

Police are seeking a suspect who was a new acquaintance of the occupant of the apartment. The suspect is described as a 5’10”, 220 pounds with a shaved head and slight beard growth. He goes by the nickname of “Ox.”

Anyone with information regarding the identity or the location of the suspect is asked to contact the Columbia Heights Police Department or the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office at 763-427-1212.

The identity of the victim has not been released. The case remains under investigation.