Three people are dead and three others were injured in two separate encampment shootings over the weekend in south Minneapolis.
The shootings are just the latest in a series of violent incidents and murders that have occurred in proximity to encampments. Last month, a Native Mob gang member went on a daylong shooting spree that resulted in two murders and two others being injured in three separate incidents.
The first encampment shooting this past weekend occurred before 5 a.m. Saturday, at East 21st Street and 15th Avenue South. When police arrived, they aired that CPR was being performed on one of three adult males shot, according to police scanner audio.
An audio recording was later posted online that appeared to indicate that automatic gunfire was involved.
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Automatic burst gunfire on the triple shooting in south Minneapolis. pic.twitter.com/8MfP62S93k— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) October 26, 2024
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara held a subsequent media briefing following Saturday’s triple shooting and confirmed that one person had died as a result of their injuries. O’Hara also stated that the encampments have “a whole lot of crime” and drug use associated with them. In the Third Precinct area, O’Hara said that 13% of all crime and 19% of “gun violence” occurs within 500 feet of an encampment. Twenty-three percent of all shooting victims this year have been within the same distance from encampments, he said.
Another triple shooting occurred about 2:20 p.m. Sunday at an encampment on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue South. When police arrived, they stated that three people were shot inside a tent, two of them being deceased and one in critical condition, according to police scanner audio.
A statement later issued by MPD stated that two adult males died as a result of their injuries and an adult female was injured. Three men were initially detained following Sunday’s shooting but were cleared and released. MPD said they are not ruling out that both encampment shootings on Saturday and Sunday may be related.
Another media briefing was held on Sunday in which Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joined Chief O’Hara, where they again reiterated the rates of crime and shootings happening in the immediate vicinity of encampments.
The mayor and chief have been butting heads with City Council members over the existence of encampments and their evictions for several months, with council members opposed to encampment evictions. Mayor Frey said Sunday that it’s not for lack of housing that the encampments exist; it comes down to fentanyl addiction, he said.
Chief O’Hara referenced fentanyl coming to Minnesota from border states like Arizona. He said they’re working with their law enforcement partners to make arrests, but said they don’t have the resources to make the arrests necessary to stop the fentanyl that’s coming into the country.
The chief said no arrests had been immediately made in either of the weekend encampment shootings. None of the decedents had been officially identified at the time of this report.
The weekend homicides bring this year’s total to at least 61 murders in Minneapolis so far compared to 47 through the same period last year, which is an increase of about 30% over last year.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
