Brother says woman fatally shot man during fight at Minneapolis deli in self-defense

MINNEAPOLIS — Like clockwork, most nights 27-year-old Misti Nelson gets off her job at the Star Tribune and walks down the street to Mr. Santana where her younger sister works so they can share a ride home.

But last Saturday, this tradition changed — a group came in, and an all-out brawl broke out.

“That night, I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there,” Dylan Nelson, Misti’s brother, said.

Investigators say the younger sister “stops counting money behind the cashier counter” to try and stop the fight, but both her and Misti Nelson “get stuck in the middle.” 

Eventually, Misti Nelson gets pushed out the door, then fires a shot into the fighting group. The victim exits behind her and she shoots at him again.

READ MORE: Misti Nelson fatally shot man during fight inside Minneapolis deli, charges say

Her brother says she was protecting herself.

“…Approached to try and attack her and to protect herself, she reacted,” Dylan Nelson said. “To have a firearm is a last resort to protect yourself, so if she was trying to use it, she had to have felt there was something bad was going to happen. Otherwise, she would have never had to do it.”

Dylan Nelson says he took Misti Nelson to be trained and get her permit to carry six years ago. She renewed it last year.

Eight hours after the shooting, Dylan Nelson took his sister downtown to meet with investigators.

“When we were on the way downtown, we just were hoping it was just a flesh wound like she was told, not to kill, but to protect herself,” he said. “It was kind of panic, she said, but when the investigators told her the guy passed away, she broke instantly.”

Police say Misti Nelson never called 911 or tried to help the victim.

She faces decades in prison if she’s convicted.