A 16-year-old boy was killed in a shooting early Monday morning in Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Officers responded to the report of a gunshot heard in the 2100 block of West Third Street at 2:47 a.m., spokeswoman Ingrid Hornibrook said in a statement. The victim, Ausineese Aubin Dufault, was pronounced dead at the scene.


Dufault had been charged with shooting a female acquaintance on the same block last month, but police did not disclose how or if the two incidents were related.

Hornibrook did not say whether anyone was in custody or if any suspects were being sought, nor did she provide any further details on the circumstances of the shooting. She said more information was expected to be released Tuesday.

"Investigators are working hard to gather more information so we can give definitive details," Hornibrook wrote in an email Monday evening.

The scene was quiet by 10 a.m., with no police presence or any sign of the night's activities. The block includes several apartment buildings — some boarded up — and a handful of houses.

Just weeks ago, Dufault was charged with opening fire outside an apartment building on the same block on April 23.

According to a criminal complaint in that case, Dufault and the victim were both at the residence belonging to the mother of his child when Dufault and three other males ordered her to turn over her phone, money and other belongings.

The victim said she was struck in the head and then ordered to leave, according to court documents. As she was getting into a car, Dufault reportedly fired at least three shots, one of which apparently ricocheted off the hood and went through the windshield before grazing the victim's head.

Dufault was arrested about a week later and charged as an adult with aggravated first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. He posted bond and was released from the St. Louis County Jail earlier this month, according to records.

One homicide has been reported in Duluth in 2019. That occurred in January, when Larry Watczak, 70, was fatally assaulted inside his Park Point home. A suspect, 31-year-old Darrel Darryl Mayhew, is set to stand trial next week.