A bloody crime scene remained Sunday morning hours after at least four people had been shot in downtown Minneapolis’ North Loop area just after midnight.
Photographer Phillip Murphy documented the crime scene and the seemingly remiss clean-up effort just outside the Underground Music Café on the 400 block of North 3rd Avenue, as he has for so many other scenes over the years.
A mounted police officer aired to dispatch about 12:09 a.m. Sunday that they heard shots near North 5th Street and the entrance to I-394. Officers quickly aired that an apparent gunshot victim had been located on North 5th Street and North 3rd Avenue. A short time later, police located two more gunshot victims on the 400 block of North 3rd Avenue. One of those victims was reported to be bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the leg, police aired.
The dispatcher aired about 12:20 a.m. that another gunshot victim had been dropped off at HCMC in downtown Minneapolis.
A possible fifth gunshot victim approached police at the original scene and said she was grazed during the shooting, but police said she was uncooperative and walked away from them, according to further dispatch audio.
Police aired that multiple different caliber casings had been located at the scene and more casings were located on the I-394 entrance ramp on North 5th Street. Police requested a Crime Lab car to process the scene.
A police spokesperson confirmed to Alpha News that four people had been shot, two males and two females, and that their injuries were reported to be non-life-threatening. Three of the victims had been located at the scene, and one self-transported to the hospital. Police said preliminary reports indicate the shots had been fired from a vehicle outside the music venue. The police spokesperson would not confirm the number or variety of calibers of spent casings found at the scene. There have been no arrests as of Monday and the incident remains under investigation, they said.
Murphy visited the crime scene at daylight to find blood stains and spatter on the public sidewalk and street over a fairly large area, as well as apparent bullet damage to the music venue sign and several bullet holes on other surfaces on the front of the building. Crime Watch contacted Murphy about the photos, and he confirmed that he called 911 to report the need for a washdown of the apparent blood matter still left at the scene.
He documented Minneapolis Fire Department personnel arriving to the scene and washing down the area Sunday morning.
Under police procedural policies, the Minneapolis Police Department “is not responsible for the cleaning or repair of a crime scene after it has been processed.” However, the policy manual states that “Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD) personnel are responsible for removing any medical debris, blood and other bodily fluids from a crime scene, traffic accident, or in public places such as sidewalks and streets, and decontaminating the area.”
Dispatch audio from overnight Sunday indicated that the fire department was requested by police to the scene for “clean up” at 4:24 a.m., and further dispatch audio indicated that an engine responded to the scene shortly thereafter.
Murphy has documented several crime scenes over the years where apparent blood and biohazard material had been left behind — sometimes for days, including just earlier this month following a stabbing outside the abandoned Aldi store in north Minneapolis. Again, apparent blood spatter was visible on sidewalks, and Murphy again called 911 for a washdown response.
Murphy claims he’s repeatedly called on city council members to address the crime scene remediation problem after first documenting “a river of blood” years ago in 2013 where children walked through blood-stained snow in north Minneapolis for days following a shooting homicide.
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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.
