1 Dead In Early Morning Shooting In Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police say a man is dead after an early morning shooting in downtown Minneapolis near Washington and North First avenues.
A man was found in the roadway early Sunday morning with a gunshot wound, authorities say. Police say an officer administered CPR, but the man died a short time later at the hospital.
Minneapolis police responded around 1:50 a.m. to reports of shots fired.
"A sergeant was responding to the area, was flagged down by a resident who pointed out to him a person who was on the ground who appeared to have received trauma," said John Elder, with the Minneapolis Police Department.
Police have not released a motive and do not have a suspect in custody. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still vague.
"This could possibly be a traffic dispute," Elder said.
The deadly shooting comes after two other shootings downtown early Saturday morning – one in the warehouse district, the other near the First Avenue music venue.
"What we do know is there's an ever-increasing amount of crime happening downtown. This is the third homicide in downtown since Memorial Day, so that's a little over 30 days," said Joe Tamburino, a chair of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association.
He says the current rate of crime downtown is unacceptable.
"The city needs to do something about it," Tamburino said.
Tamburino says the city should put more law enforcement officers on the street, which is something the city council would have to approve.
"They're doing as much as they can, but they don't have the support of the city council and they don't have the numbers to properly do this," Tamburino said.
Minneapolis City Council Member Steve Fletcher says any violent crime downtown is too much and the council takes the situation seriously.
But in a statement he says, in part, "It's irresponsible to speculate that any one simple answer like MPD staffing levels could have prevented recent incidents or could prevent similar crimes in the future."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is also responding to recent crime in the city.
FULL STATEMENTS IN RESPONSE TO CALL FOR MORE MPD OFFICERS ON THE STREETS:
Mayor Jacob Frey:
"Chief (Medaria) Arradondo and I have made a strong, coordinated response to violent crime a priority. Forging and strengthening partnerships with businesses and neighborhood organizations has been a significant piece of Minneapolis' crime prevention strategy. Still, as the early summer weeks have made clear, we as city leaders should step up and give our police department the resources and staffing it needs to successfully advance police-community relations and effectively curb violent crime."
Council Member Steve Fletcher, Ward 3:
"Downtown Minneapolis is the premier regional destination for live theatre, sports, and music. Any violent crime downtown is too much, and we take every incident seriously. This year, we've deployed several new strategies and resources ranging from targeted MPD beats to reconfigured public spaces, to community partnerships, many of which are showing promise at preventing violence before it happens, ensuring everyone who visits feels safe, and catching people who commit violent crime. While this weekend's incidents are still under investigation, it's irresponsible to speculate that any one simple answer like MPD staffing levels could have prevented recent incidents, or could prevent similar crimes in the future. It's MPD and the Council's job to make clear-headed, data-informed investments in community safety, and not to make knee-jerk responses to a small sample size of events."
