Fugitive Killed Atop Uptown Minneapolis Parking Ramp By Task Force Members, Says US Marshals
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The U.S. Marshals Service says members of a federal task force fatally shot a fugitive atop a parking ramp in Minneapolis's Uptown neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
The deadly encounter happened at about 2:10 p.m. at a parking ramp off Lake Street between Fremont and Hennepin avenues. Marshals Service officials say the person fatally shot was wanted "on a state arrest warrant" for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Task force members, in several vehicles, confronted the man in the ramp, who was sitting with a woman in a parked car. The man wouldn't surrender and pulled out a gun, officials say, resulting in multiple task force members opening fire.
He died despite life-saving measures performed at the scene. His passenger was hurt by flying glass and was treated for her injuries.
WCCO spoke with a bartender who was working on the rooftop at Stella's Fish Cafe, located across the street from the ramp. He said customers ducked when they heard gunfire, thinking their lives were in danger. He said he heard eight to 12 gun shots and saw a woman, who was bleeding, get handcuffed and taken away in an ambulance.
"Then we heard there was another male there, CPR was being performed," he said.
Stella's, along with other nearby businesses like Target and Life Time, closed early for the day. A crowd gathered at the scene, waiting to get more information about the shooting. Two peace activist groups -- We Push For Peace and A Mother's Love -- were also present to deescalate conflicts if they were to arise.
Most members of the crowd had dispersed by about 6 p.m., but a crowd returned just after 9:15 p.m., soon after investigators left the scene and reopened Lake Street to traffic. People pulled down crime scene tape, and then dragged a dumpster into the middle of the busy thoroughfare and set it on fire.
Members of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office are part of the federal task force, but it's not clear which other agencies are involved.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will lead the investigation.