Charges: Killer Returned to Party After Shooting Hibbing Man 3 Times

HIBBING, Minn. — A murder charge has been handed down against a Hoyt Lakes man who is accused of shooting a man to death in Hibbing during an after-bar party.

Daniel Dale, 30, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Parker Johnson, 24, just hours before being killed in the parking lot of Meadowview Apartments around 2:15 a.m. in the Nov. 2.

According to the criminal complaint, and after changing his story several times and even laughing to investigators, Dale said he shot Johnson in self-defense after Johnson asked him to go to the parking lot and then pointed a shotgun at him.

But authorities said an autopsy and surveillance video and audio prove otherwise when it comes to the self-defense claim. They said it shows Dale shooting the victim in the mouth, then waiting six seconds before shooting the victim twice in the back at close range.

Dale admitted being intoxicated at the time of the shooting. He said he went back to the party after the shooting and tried not to “freak out.”