Walz Meets With Mpls. Leaders, Touting Increased State Patrol Presence
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Neighbors are demanding change and solutions to the rising gun violence in north Minneapolis.
A beloved, rising star quarterback was gunned down near a bus stop last week. Shortly after that, a school bus driver was shot in the head while transporting students. That violence was enough to get the attention of state leaders.
On Monday, Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan met with Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff and other school leaders.
The main purpose of the meeting was to share condolences to the district, which lost a high school student and had a bus driver injured, all because of gun violence. But they also discussed a new safety measure starting immediately.
You're going to start seeing a lot more law enforcement out on the major interstates that police say have seen the most criminal activity in the last two weeks. Minnesota State Patrol troopers be running an initiative they call "HEAT" -- an acronym that stands for Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic.
Primarily, the increase will be around interstates 94 and 694 and the downtown Minneapolis area. Troopers will be hyper-focused on the interstates between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. for the next 10 nights.
The Department of Public Safety says these troopers will be there to help local police agencies with a faster response time, as well as be on the lookout for drivers speeding and fleeing from police after committing a crime.
WCCO also spoke with several Northside community leaders, including the head of the street outreach groups, who not only work directly with the victims of these crimes, but also live in north Minneapolis themselves. They're glad this crime is getting the governor's attention, but said they want to be included in the conversations, too.