Crookston Man Fatally Shot By Close Friend

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An 18-year-old Crookston man is dead after allegedly being shot in the head by his friend, 18-year-old Daniel Gonzales Junior.

Juan Morales died this afternoon in a Fargo hospital.

The landlord of this building and surrounding neighbors tell us this is an extremely quiet neighborhood.

But what happened last night has left many in the community including friends of Juan Morales and Daniel Gonzales shocked.

“We miss you Juan and we wish everything we could come back to you man I got this rose for you,” says Santos Arguelles III, a close friend of both men involved.

It started here as a small party among friends.

“A couple of weeks ago I was hanging out with all two of them. We were just walking around town late night and everything seemed pretty chill,” Arguelles says.

But just after midnight, Crookston Police received a call about a gunshot wound.

“It’s a shock. We’re a small community, low crime you know so something like this is a shock,” says Lt. Darin Selzler of Crookston Police.

Police say when they arrived, they found Juan Morales had been shot in the head by his good friend. He and Gonzales had been in some sort of fight and the result has left close friends baffled.

“I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning getting the call. At first I didn’t believe it then I fell asleep. Then I woke up again and I realized it wasn’t a dream,” says Arguelles.

Morales was life-flighted to Fargo but medics were unable to save him.

“He was just so young, man, both those guys were so young. Both of them were babies of the family too. Eighteen-year-olds, two of them lost their lives,” Arguelles says.

Gonzales was initially facing attempted murder charges but now those charges could be upgraded to murder.

“He just turned 18. I remember talking about taking care of our freedom. But now I see that he’s not going to be coming out anytime soon,” says Arguelles.

Polk County Sheriff’s Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are assisting Crookston police in this ongoing investigation.