Shooting At Epic Nightclub Leaves 1 Dead
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A rare sight Sunday night: the Minneapolis Police Chief joined the foot patrol one night after a deadly shooting inside a downtown nightclub.
Chief Janee Harteau attended "roll call" and then joined the late night patrol in the Warehouse District.
Overnight, a 27-year-old man was shot during a rap concert inside Epic Nightclub. When officers arrived they found the victim's body on the sidewalk. He died at the scene.
Investigators say the shooting happened inside the club. According to police, the victim and the shooter were yelling at each other when the gunman fired his weapon and then ran off.
Several club goers heard the shots.
"It was a gunshot, a loud gunshot. Everyone started running and they cleared the club," said Stephanie Young, who was at Epic during the shooting.
"Girls out, running everywhere, crying everywhere, people were mad. People running out. It was a lot going on at one time, police everywhere, on every corner," Devonte Davis said.
Rapper Yo Gotti was performing at Epic Saturday night. The shooting happened an hour before the bar closed.
Harteau said police have responded to 150 calls to this club alone in less than two years. Now, they're worried something like this could happen again. That's why she is out here showing her presence --trying to send the message that violence won't be tolerated.
"We don't need any more violence. We're tired of the violence. This city spends a tremendous amount of resources and personnel to try to prevent further violence, but we need the help from the community and we need help within the city," Harteau said.
Police didn't say if it was gang-related, but they are looking into it. The victim had an extensive criminal history, according to police.
"His associates are not very cooperative, so I have tremendous concern about retaliation, which is one of the reasons I'm here tonight," Harteau said.
Authorities have not made any arrests and the name of the victim has not been released. Police are asking anyone with information to call the tipline at (612)-692-TIPS.
