FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Court documents have provided more details on the investigation following two fatal shootings in Fargo on August 3, including a conversation between police and Tyrque Jones that night.
According to court documents, hours after the fatal shootings, officers questioned Jones, who told them he had been playing video games with a friend who later turned up dead outside his apartment building.
Court documents reveal new details about Jones’ conversation with police that night, including his account of the final hours before Elijah Hughes was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds near Jones’ apartment complex on 16th Avenue South.
Jones told investigators Hughes had been in his apartment playing video games when Hughes received a text message and said he had to leave. Jones said he heard noises that could have been gunshots, but only checked the front door of the complex, not the back where Hughes was discovered.
During that interview, investigators noticed blood on Jones’ face and observed a fresh, jagged cut on the side of his head. When they asked about the wound, Jones said he injured himself at work the day before.
Video captures bar confrontation
The night began around 1:56 a.m. with a shooting in the parking lot of District 64 Bar on Broadway North. Security video from a nearby establishment shows Azeem Holmes striking Jones in the head with a glass liquor bottle on the sidewalk before Jones chased Holmes toward the bar’s front entrance, according to court documents.
The video shows someone brandishing a pistol before multiple muzzle flashes are visible as people duck and run for cover. Holmes, 19, died at the hospital from a gunshot wound to his upper left chest. Two others were wounded in the incident.
Second shooting 30 minutes later
About 30 minutes after the bar shooting, police received multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots at the apartment complex where Jones lived. Officers found Hughes dead near the building’s west door.
Family members told investigators that Hughes had been picked up earlier that night by Jones and two other people. Jones told police he assumed Hughes went home after hearing the gunshot-like noises and didn’t think to check the back of the building.
Jones cleared of charges
Jones was initially charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Azeem Holmes. He remained on the run for four months before being arrested December 3 in Minneapolis.
However, after Fargo detectives interviewed Jones last week, all charges related to both shooting incidents were dismissed. Police said information Jones provided corroborated video evidence and redirected the investigation toward another potential suspect.
Jones will remain in custody on an unrelated terrorizing warrant issued July 1 and will be extradited to Cass County.
