Minneapolis Teacher Harvey Williams Struck, Killed By Automatic Gunfire
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Another round of automatic gunfire near 49th Street on Tuesday night killed a man known by many in north Minneapolis.
He was in his vehicle and ended up in a ditch off I-94.
Gospel singer, minister, and model Jovanta Patton knew the victim, Harvey Williams, from childhood.
"We don't know the details - I'm not here to speak on that, but I am here to speak on how we are going to miss someone who was a good person that would help change the community," said Patton, who met Williams at Edison High School.
Word spread quickly of Williams' death.
Patton and his wife Symone went to Facebook to give people who knew Williams a safe space to pray and mourn.
"You could feel the heaviness, you could feel the pain you could feel the frustration you could feel the want to go into a numb state," said Symone Patton.
"He was heroic, just recently in things that have happened he step in into try and save lives," Jovanta Patton said.
Williams was at an Uptown restaurant last month when someone standing across the street opened fire with what sounded like an automatic weapon.
The ATF is looking into that incident as well as the shooting that claimed Williams' life because of the possible use of auto sears, a device that turns semi-automatic firearms into fully-automatic firearms.
RELATED: ATF Says Auto Sears Are Becoming More Common In Twin Cities
"We are absolutely committed to finding out who you are and removing you from the community," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge of St. Paul Field Office of the ATF Jeff Reed.
A community is devastated from the loss of a rising designer, father and man who had a heart for community.
"The clothes were great, he was a great father, he was a teacher. He just recently started working at Minneapolis Public Schools and all he talked about was his daughter," said Jovanta Patton.
Patton hopes to use his platform to allow a safe space for people to mourn and to seek help for a way out of this cycle of violence.
"Trying to come out of this lifestyle is not a photo op, it is not shares on Facebook it is literally a secret job," Patton said.
Police have no motive or suspects in connection with Williams' death.
Patton and his wife welcome all who need a safe space to attend their pop up event called The Wave this Sunday.
For more information on that event, click here.