Hastings man found shot to death in yard is identified

HASTINGS, Minn. - Shortly after returning from the Dairy Queen with his son and another boy, a man was shot dead outside his Hastings home Sunday night, neighbors said.
The man was identified as Jason Reuter by Kelly Twidt, who lived with him and who is the mother of his 6-year-old son.
At 9:56 p.m., Hastings police responded to a call of shots fired in the 1200 block of Eddy Street, about a block west of U.S. Highway 61, according to a police statement.
Police Chief Bryan D. Schafer confirmed Monday that a man was found shot to death outside his home.
Twidt said shortly after Reuter returned from Dairy Queen, his son went inside to play video games. A car then pulled into the driveway, and Reuter, who was standing in the yard outside his son’s bedroom window, was shot, she said.
 “He was a good dad,” Twidt said. “He was always baby-sitting everyone’s kids.”
No one else was injured, and no one has been taken into custody, Schafer said.
Police said they don’t believe the man was the victim of a drive-by shooting.
Schafer didn’t elaborate on the victim’s criminal history, but he said the man was known to police.
Sunday’s shooting marked Hastings’ first homicide this year.
 “(Homicides) seldom occur (in Hastings), so this is an anomaly,” Schafer said. “We’re not a large city; nonetheless, we deal with the same things as other communities do. Our goal is to keep our community safe.”
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Hennepin County medical examiner and the Dakota County and Washington County sheriff’s offices are investigating.