Timothy Amacher found guilty of attempted murder of MPD forensic scientist

MINNEAPOLIS -- A 41-year-old St. Paul man has been found guilty in the shooting of a forensic scientist with the Minneapolis Police Department.

According to Hennepin County officials, Timothy Amacher was found guilty Tuesday of both attempted murder and aiding an offender in connection to the April 20 shooting. His trial began in early November. 

In April, officers were dispatched at 7:33 p.m. to a supervised parenting center in Minneapolis near Malcolm and University avenues on the report of a shooting. There, officers found the 33-year-old female victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the right side of her neck and right forearm.

RELATED: 2 Charged With Attempted Murder In Shooting Of MPD Forensic Scientist

The victim was rushed to Hennepin Healthcare. She suffered numerous internal injuries due to the gunshot wound to her neck and a "through and through" gunshot wound to her arm, but survived.

The victim was shot while she was picking up her 5-year-old child, whom she shares with Amacher. Amacher was inside the parenting center when the victim was shot. A court order restricts Amacher's contact with the child to be supervised, with contact between him and the victim prohibited.

Employees at the parenting center who knew the victim and Amacher's family history told police that the shooter might be Amacher's girlfriend, Colleen Larson of St. Paul.

Police say surveillance footage from the parking lot shows a person, later identified as Larson, arriving in a black 2022 Dodge Ram without a license plate, the complaint said. She then exited the vehicle and hid behind a fence until the victim got out of her vehicle. Larson then ran up behind the victim holding a firearm. The video showed Larson raising the gun up toward the victim, but the shooting happened just outside camera view.

Police later learned that the Dodge Ram belonged to Amacher, who purchased it in January.

In a search warrant executed at Amacher's St. Paul residence, authorities recovered multiple firearms and .380 discharged cartridge cases that were fired from the same gun used in the April 20 shooting, according to the complaint. A .380 pistol was not found.

Larson faces an attempted murder charge.

A sentencing date has not been set for Amacher. He could face up to life in prison on the attempted murder charge. 

Previous report below: 

Domestic Violence Resources

For anonymous, confidential help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.

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