2 shootings minutes apart in downtown Minneapolis leave 6 injured

MINNEAPOLIS -- Two shootings minutes apart from each other in downtown Minneapolis left multiple people injured early Saturday morning.

Minneapolis police say they first heard gunfire around the 400 block of Hennepin Avenue South around 2:30 a.m. They found a man with potentially life-threatening injuries and transported him to the hospital. They also say they requested backup from all five precincts to deal with an aggressive crowd and to help preserve the crime scene.

Minutes later, another shooting took place just blocks away on the 800 block of Hennepin Avenue South, which police believe left five people injured. Officers found a man in his 30s with potentially life-threatening injuries, a woman in her 20s with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, and another man in his 50s with potentially life-threatening gunshot wounds. All of them were taken to a nearby hospital.

While at the scene, police say a man and a woman - both in their 20s - arrived at North Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries stemming from the shooting on 8th and Hennepin.

No arrests have been made in connection to either shooting, and police say at this time, it's unclear if the shootings are related.

In a Facebook post, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the shootings "need to stop."

"The complete disregard for someone else's life is not who we are as a city. Those who are engaging in this behavior will be caught -- and will be held accountable," he said.