Police: Man, Baby Dead In South Minneapolis Shooting
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minneapolis police are searching for the person who shot and killed a 20-year-old man and an 8-month-old baby.
The shooting happened at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday near 11th Avenue and 26th St East. That's right, across the street from Stewart Park and near Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
When officers arrived, they found both victims in the back seat of a red four-door sedan. Both had been shot, the baby boy was still in his car seat. WCCO's Reg Chapman spoke with the victim's sister.
"My younger brother only 20 years old, 20 years old," Julia Johnson said.
Julia Johnson, 34, says she wants to know who would gun down her brother in broad daylight across the street from a popular and very busy south Minneapolis park.
"All I know is he is laying over there dead. That's all I know. I don't know why, I don't how, I don't remember the last time I seen him," Johnson said.
It was around 1:30 p.m. Sunday when the 911 call came in reporting shots fired. When officers arrived, they found two individuals in the backseat of a car with gunshots. The youngest victim was still in his car seat.
"One adult male was pronounced dead at the scene by Hennepin County paramedics and a juvenile who we believe to be between 8 and 11 months old was transported to children's hospital and that child has since died," Corey Schmidt with the Minneapolis Police Department said.
Johnson says her brother, 20-year-old Gustav Christianson, was not the father of the child who was also shot and killed.
"He just recently was incarcerated and got out and was in a treatment program," Johnson said.
Johnson says her brother lives in north Minneapolis. He was on the south side with a female friend. She says he use to run with a gang, and part of his probation conditions was to stay clear of gang activity.
"That's what we were trying to keep him away from was a gang, you know a previous gang he was in, and you know he was to stay away from them people and I don't know," Johnson said.
Police say the shooting is a targeted attack and not random. Investigators are interviewing witnesses, searching for any information that will lead to a killer.
Police are waiting until more witnesses are interviewed before releasing a description of the shooter. The medical examiner has not yet officially released the names of the victims.