Gang link suspected in death of student

A Harvard College student home on vacation was fatally shot in the chest in Minneapolis this week while spray-painting graffiti on someone's house in a crime police said could be gang-related.

Clarence Duane Meat, 24, an economics major who was expected to graduate next year, was shot as he and a friend spray-painted figures and letters on a home in a south Minneapolis neighborhood on Wednesday, Ronald Reier, a Minneapolis police spokesman, said yesterday. A 17-year-old male allegedly burst out of the home and fired numerous gunshots, hitting Meat in the chest, Reier said.

Meat was taken to the Hennepin Medical County Center by his friend at 10:15 a.m., Reier said. He was pronounced dead shortly after, he said.

Hospital officials called 911 to report the homicide, Reier said. Police searched the home, but did not find anyone there, he said.

The suspect, who was not identified because he is a minor under Minnesota law, was arrested later that day at 6:30, Reier said. Reier would not say what led to the teenager's arrest. The suspect is expected to be charged in Meat's death this week and is being held over the weekend at Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center, he said.

Reier would not say whether the teen lived in the home or if he and Meat knew each other. The words and numbers spray-painted on the home are unintelligible, and detectives are investigating whether they are gang-related, Reier said. ''They will determine what was spray-painted and what the meaning of the spray painting was," he said.

No charges had been filed against Meat's friend as of yesterday, and police did not release his name, Reier said.

Howard Georgi, headmaster of Meat's dormitory at the college, said Meat was an excellent student who was considered good-natured by his peers. He was recognized in 2003 by the Harvard Foundation, the school's diversity council, for his efforts in the Native American community, Georgi said.

Meat was involved with the Native Americans at Harvard College, a student club. He was supposed to graduate this year, but took time off to return to Minnesota, Georgi said.

Students honored Meat yesterday at a powwow by dedicating a song to him, Georgi said. ''There is just a lot of confusion, and everyone is a little down," he said.

Cristina Silva can be reached at csilva@globe.com.