Police: Man Planned to Shoot People He Thought Robbed His Home

A Hopkins man suspected of planning to shoot people he thought robbed his home was released on bail last Thursday. Kevin Mathew Ward, 24, faces a felony charge of illegal possession of a handgun following his arrest June 6.

According to court documents filed Wednesday, a confidential source told Minneapolis police that a man then known only as “Slim” planned to go to a Hopkins address on Ninth Avenue South to shoot people he thought had robbed his home.

Officers watched the area and saw someone matching the suspect’s description appear at about 8:40 p.m. The source confirmed that the person was the man previously identified as “Slim.”

In a search after Ward's arrest, officers found a .38-caliber revolver, six bullets, a large sum of money, a bottle of liquor and a cell phone with a number that matched one provided by the confidential source.

Ward said he was carrying the gun for protection.

He was ineligible to possess a handgun because he was adjudicated delinquent in 2004 of first-degree robbery. Ward was ruled delinquent as an “extended jurisdiction juvenile”— a way to deal with juveniles who commit serious crimes without transferring them to adult court.

Ward has been charged with possessing a handgun after previously being adjudicated delinquent in a violent crime. He could receive up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

He was released from jail Thursday on $25,000 bail.