Surviving a Point‑Blank Attack: How Digital Evidence Unraveled the Plot to Kill Minneapolis CSI Nicki Lenway

On the evening of April 20, 2022, Nicole “Nicki” Lenway — a 33-year-old crime scene investigator for the Minneapolis Police Department — was shot twice at point-blank range in the parking lot of a parenting center while picking up her 5-year-old son. She survived, but the attack left her with a perforated lung, severe vocal-cord damage and a bullet lodged between two ribs. In her first televised interview about the shooting, Lenway said simply: "Someone wanted me dead."

Immediate aftermath and a lifesaving stranger

The shooting was caught on nearby surveillance cameras and witnessed by a motorist, Emilie Clancy, who pulled over and rushed to Lenway's aid. Clancy put pressure on a neck wound and stayed on the phone with 911 until first responders arrived. Body-camera footage shows emergency personnel treating Lenway and moving her into an ambulance; she briefly walked to the vehicle before losing consciousness.

Initial leads and a tense custody battle

Investigators quickly recovered three spent shell casings at the scene. Lenway had been at the center to pick up her son, Callahan, after a scheduled visit with his father, taekwondo instructor Tim Amacher. Lenway later told detectives she suspected Amacher's involvement. Amacher — widely known in the community as a charismatic and influential instructor often addressed as "Master" — had a widely reported history of conflict with Lenway. Their relationship had deteriorated years earlier amid accusations, custody fights and heated legal battles, culminating in a 2020 ruling that awarded Lenway sole legal and physical custody of Callahan and limited Amacher to supervised visits.

Video, vehicle data and cellphone records point investigators toward a truck and a student

Surveillance footage showed a figure dressed in black running up behind Lenway, firing several shots, then fleeing on foot and driving away in a black Dodge Ram with no visible plates. Amacher initially told police he did not own such a truck, but investigators later discovered he did own a black Ram similar to the vehicle in the video. Crucially, the truck and Amacher's and his associate's cellphones produced a digital trail.

FBI technology specialists and local detectives tracked electronic signals and cellphone location records that put Amacher and his former longtime student, 18-year-old Colleen Larson, at the taekwondo studio earlier the same day. Shortly before the shooting the black truck left the couple's residence and drove directly to the parenting center. Footage and cellphone data placed Larson on foot near the scene before the attack, and a search of the couple's home recovered spent casings matching those at the crime scene.

A confession and the case against Amacher

Larson initially denied involvement, but during a recorded interrogation she broke down and confessed: "I took the truck and I drove over there … and then I shot her." Larson said she acted at Amacher's direction, telling investigators she believed false claims he had made that Lenway was harming their child. She said Amacher disposed of the gun afterward. Larson pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder and was sentenced to 16½ years.

Amacher denied participation. Prosecutors built a case using surveillance images, vehicle and cellphone data, matched casings, and evidence of Amacher's prior false allegations and alleged campaign of harassment against Lenway. The defense argued there was no direct forensic evidence tying Amacher to the act of firing a weapon. Still, a jury convicted Amacher of attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aiding an accomplice; he received an 18-year sentence.

Aftermath: recovery, family and lingering trauma

Lenway continues to recover physically and emotionally from the attack; the assault left lasting damage to her voice and a persistent sense of vulnerability. She and Minneapolis police officer Donovan Ford — who rushed to the hospital when he learned she had been shot and is now her husband — report the trauma remains vivid for both of them. Yet there have been moments of relief and hope: Lenway and Ford reunited publicly with Emilie Clancy, and Lenway announced she is expecting another child.

Callahan, now a young child, has been told that his father tried to kill his mother. Family and friends describe him as resilient under the circumstances.

Takeaway

This case underscores how modern investigative techniques — from surveillance video to vehicle and cellphone data — can help solve violent crimes, especially when motives are rooted in long-running personal conflicts. It also highlights how manipulation and coercive dynamics can draw others into violent acts.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, call 1-800-799-SAFE or visit thehotline.org for confidential support.