At least six people were shot over the weekend in Minneapolis, including a mass shooting that left four teenagers injured, and another shooting that left a man dead and a teen injured.
Police were called to a report of a shooting on West Lake Street near Grand Avenue on Friday just before midnight. Three injured parties were found on site, and a fourth later showed up at an area hospital, police later said in media statements. One of the teens was 16, the other three were 17. All were reported to have non-life-threatening injuries. Somali media Tusmo Times reported that all four injured teens were Somali.
Not even 24 hours later, police were called to another shooting at about 10:15 p.m. on Saturday on the 2500 block of 17th Avenue South, where one person was initially reported to be shot in the chest and was deceased, according to emergency responder dispatches. Another injured party reported to be a 16-year-old male was shot twice in the leg and was transported to the hospital.
Minneapolis police later confirmed in a statement that a 19-year-old man had died in Saturday’s shooting, and the 16-year-old’s injuries were not life threatening. The shootings stemmed from an altercation between a group inside the apartment that escalated to gunfire, MPD said. The suspects had fled the scene prior to the arrival of police.
At the time of this report, no arrests had been announced in either Friday or Saturday’s shootings. Saturday’s fatal shooting is at least the city’s 7th homicide this year, according to police data and a database maintained by Crime Watch Minneapolis. That number is even with the number of homicides during the same period last year.
Additionally, the increasing auto theft trend has continued throughout the month of March in Minneapolis with dozens of vehicles reportedly stolen over the weekend, according to police data tracked by Crime Watch. At least two dozen vehicles were reported stolen on Friday across the city. At least another 28 were reported stolen on Saturday, and at least 30 more had been reported stolen on Sunday.
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Another 10 vehicles reported stolen across Minneapolis Sunday afternoon and evening, for a total of at least 30 for the day. pic.twitter.com/3covh1JDMI— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) March 23, 2026
Crime Watch has been reporting on the increase in auto thefts for Alpha News since the spike began in January and continued through February, ending that month with auto thefts up nearly 35 percent.
Minneapolis police data through the end of last week, which does not yet include most of the nearly 100 auto thefts since Friday, indicates that auto thefts are still up over 25 percent from the same period last year.
Submitted from NE Minneapolis:
At approximately 9:05 AM, a stolen Red Lexus (RX model) occupied by black males (driver: long dreads, white hoodie, appeared 18–20 years old) was observed in the area of NE Minneapolis driving recklessly.Around 9:20 AM, outside Café Marguerite… pic.twitter.com/I9MRq6sG8y
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) March 22, 2026
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) recently pointed out in a Facebook post that auto thefts in that county are down 60% over the last three years, and also stated that St. Paul had 196 auto thefts in January and February compared to 1,054 in Minneapolis.
The sheriff’s office attributes Ramsey County’s and St. Paul’s success in driving down auto thefts to a partnership between RCSO, the St. Paul Police Department, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
“Arresting, prosecuting and correcting behavior are all part of an effective justice system,” the post said, and emphasized that “it all starts with apprehending juvenile offenders.”
“You can’t help them until you catch them,” Sheriff Bob Fletcher was quoted as saying.
National media Fox News Digital recently reported on Minneapolis’ auto theft problem and noted that Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara recently suggested that ICE’s Metro Surge immigration operation was a contributing factor in the rise in auto thefts in the city. O’Hara was quoted as saying, “officers and investigators were consistently pulled from their normal assigned duties.”
Retired Minnesota State Patrol Lt. John Nagel threw water on that theory and told Fox News Digital, “It’s a deterrence problem.”
“As a 30-year law enforcement veteran, I can tell you this: auto theft goes down when city leaders make it a priority and criminals know there will be consequences. We’ve seen that in St. Paul, where focused enforcement drove car theft down sharply, while Minneapolis is back over 1,000 auto thefts in just the first two months of this year,” Nagel said.
Nagel went on to blame Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz for undermining deterrence and tolerating a revolving door system for repeat offenders, especially for juveniles, he said.
A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson told Fox News that MPD is still understaffed and also has a policy of not pursuing stolen vehicles, in comparing the difference between Minneapolis and 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.
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.
