Apple Valley Man Dies In Home Fireworks Accident: Police

APPLE VALLEY, MN — An Apple Valley man died Sunday during an accident with fireworks, the Apple Valley Police Department said.

An officer was dispatched to a home in Apple Valley after receiving a call about a dead body in the backyard, police said. The officer found the man and heard music playing inside but nobody else was home, according to investigators.

The man had been drinking alcohol and setting off aerial fireworks near his home, police said. Investigators believe the man was holding a mortar tube used to launch the fireworks and that the fireworks shot out the bottom of the tube, hitting the man in the head, police said.

The Medical Examiner was called to the scene and said the cause of death was likely accidental, according to police.

The man has not yet been identified. Formal identification and the official cause of death will come from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.