Another violent weekend in Minneapolis includes a deadly mass shooting and mass stabbing

Minneapolis has tallied at least 55 homicides so far this year, according to a database kept by Crime Watch Minneapolis, which is an increase of about 28 percent over this time last year. Homicides this year are up nearly 78 percent over 2019.

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Crime Watch MN
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Several people could be seen engaging in taunts and fights at 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue prior to a mass shooting. (Crime Watch Minneapolis/X)

Another violent and deadly weekend unfolded in Minneapolis a week after a teen was killed and several others were injured in a vehicle assault in downtown Minneapolis.

Incidents over this past weekend include a mass shooting in downtown that left two dead and three injured, as well as other shootings that left several injured, and a mass stabbing on Lake Street on the city’s south side that injured four.

Here’s the rundown based on police scanner audio and/or subsequent police reports:

Early Friday morning saw a robbery and carjacking spree play out in south Minneapolis. The first incident occurred late Thursday night with a carjacking near Lake Street and Colfax Avenue South. The vehicle taken in that robbery was used in several subsequent robberies in the Uptown area after midnight Friday, including a robbery near 34th and Emerson Avenue South about 12:40 a.m., where the victim was able to throw a brick through the window of the suspect vehicle. Another attempted robbery occurred just before 1 a.m. near West Lake Street and Humboldt Avenue South. The same teens in the carjacked Audi were also reportedly involved in a gun-pointing incident in St. Paul just prior to the Uptown robberies.

Police spotted the suspects in the carjacked Audi in north Minneapolis about 1:40 a.m. Friday and a pursuit ensued into Brooklyn Park, where at least three suspects were eventually apprehended, including one adult and two juveniles, according to later statements by both the Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park police departments.

Early Saturday morning just after 12:30 a.m., a woman was stabbed near 1st Avenue and North 5th Street in the downtown bar district following a reported altercation with another female in a bar bathroom. Information on the condition of the injured party was not immediately available.

About 20 minutes later, at 12:50 a.m. Saturday, a person was shot near West Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue South. Police later told media that the man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, shots were fired in the downtown Minneapolis bar district that would result in a mass shooting that left two men dead and three females injured, including an adult and two teens.

Video later posted online showed the moments leading up to the shooting and the sound of gunfire before the video cut away. Several people could be seen engaging in taunts and fights at 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, with a few officers staged around the perimeter of the activity.

In a statement later released by MPD, Chief Brian O’Hara said police were responding to the fights when shots were fired. All five injured parties were found near the location. In addition to the two men who died, the three females sustained injuries that were not life-threatening. The statement said one man was arrested on a charge of probable cause riot, and one firearm was recovered from the scene. The incident remains under investigation.

About 2:50 a.m. Saturday, there was another report of a shooting near 54th and Nicollet Avenue South. The initial dispatch indicated that the injured party was being loaded into a pickup truck. While police were checking the area for the vehicle, they were notified by the dispatcher that two people with gunshot wounds had arrived at HCMC in a private vehicle. Information at the time indicated that one had injuries that were “critical,” but police later told media that injuries to both men were not life-threatening.

Just after 10 p.m. Saturday, state troopers requested Minneapolis police to assist on the I-94 freeway near Dowling Avenue in north Minneapolis, where they said shots had been fired. Initial information aired indicated that someone may have been shot and that a suspect was walking on the freeway.

Further audio indicated that no one had been injured, but as troopers were making contact with someone walking on the freeway, shots were fired by a trooper. A later post by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicated that it was investigating the use-of-force incident related to the State Patrol, and confirmed that there had been no reported injuries. The freeway was closed from West Broadway to Dowling for nearly 12 hours while the investigation took place, and didn’t reopen until about 11 a.m. Sunday.

About 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Minneapolis police were dispatched on a report of several people stabbed at 13th Avenue South and East Lake Street. Two injured males were found on site, approximate ages 18 and 26; one was stabbed in the head, and one was stabbed in the back. Two more injured parties self-transported to HCMC and arrived separately in the following hour. Police later told media that one of the parties was critically injured and that a female was booked into custody. Booking records show a 36-year-old female being held on probable cause second-degree assault.

Additionally, Brooklyn Park had a shooting just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday, where a party was seriously injured. A statement later released by BPPD stated that the parties knew each other, a gun was recovered, and a suspect was arrested.

St. Paul also had a shooting just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday near Rice Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, where a male was found in a vehicle shot in the chest. Police later told media that his injuries were life-threatening.

Minneapolis has tallied at least 55 homicides so far this year, according to a database kept by Crime Watch Minneapolis. The figure shows an increase of about 28 percent over last year, when the city had recorded 43 homicides during the same period. Homicides this year are up nearly 78 percent over 2019 when the city had 31 homicides during the same period, which was prior to the 2020 George Floyd riots that fueled an exponential rise in crime not only in Minneapolis but across the Twin Cities that has lasted years across several crime categories.

Minneapolis has also experienced at least five mass shootings so far this year with incidents in February, May, July, August, and September. Other cities have also experienced mass shootings, including Burnsville and North St. Paul.

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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.

 

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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.

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