Gun Violence Makes For Deadly Weekend In Twin Cities
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Five people have been killed over three days across the Twin Cities.
Four people died in Minneapolis, one in St. Paul -- all from gun violence. Several more people were shot in those cases but survived.
The most recent incident was Sunday morning outside a corner store in north Minneapolis.
"One of my friends said he drove by this place and saw the (crime scene) tape up, that was early this morning," said neighbor Gordon Miller, who rode by on his bike to get a look at the scene Sunday afternoon.
It was around 9:45 a.m. when police say gunfire erupted outside Emerson Food Market. One person died at the scene, a second victim later died at the hospital, and a third victim is expected to survive.
The deaths -- and the sight of firefighters cleaning the store front and sidewalk with a hose -- compelled Bishop Harding Smith to park his car and talk to neighbors to learn more.
"It's crippling our community, the progress," Smith said of the shootings. "We have the whole community now is captivated with fear. When something like this happens, people are even afraid to walk their kids to the bus stop in the morning for fear of catching a stray bullet."
The shooting was the third over the weekend in which somebody was killed in the city.
Liban Abdulahi, 32, of Burnsville, was shot to death Friday night in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
Bullets flew again hours later in the 2000 block of Washington Avenue North, killing one man and hurting three others. No arrests have been made in those two cases.
"We have really stressed, help us help you. If you know something, say something because that will help us get people off the streets that are doing these crimes," said John Elder, public information officer with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Citing statistics from the department, Elder said violent crime has dropped almost 21 percent from 2017 to 2018 (through Sept. 3).
Elder said the statistics show new crime fighting and prevention tactics are working, but those numbers fall on deaf ears where gunshots are heard.
"One murder is more than enough," Bishop Smith said. "We need to do something."
Bishop Smith says he's working to meet with the families of the people killed in the three shootings and will possibly hold a vigil Monday afternoon.
Anyone with information that could help investigators is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
