Boy, 12, dies in shooting after dispute in north Minneapolis neighborhood
Family identified the boy killed in a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday as 12-year-old London Michael Bean, a sixth grader. (Supplied)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A 12-year-old boy has died from a shooting following a dispute in a north Minneapolis neighborhood, according to Minneapolis police.
Officer Garrett Parten says officers responded to the incident at 3:40 p.m. near the intersection of N Aldrich Ave and N 8th Ave.
According to preliminary investigation, a verbal dispute turned violent and ended in shots fired. The shooter, described as a boy, left the scene in a vehicle.
An ambulance took the injured 12-year-old boy to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Parten confirmed the boy later died from his injuries. Family members identified the boy as London Michael Bean, a sixth grader.
Danny Braylock says he was at the corner of Aldrich and 8th avenues talking with his granddaughter when they noticed at least two kids involved in some kind of altercation. He said before adults nearby could intervene, he heard shots ring out.
"Some dude came running from the side of the house and just shot the kid a couple of times. I don’t know how many times he hit the kid," Braylock said.
Braylock says he and his granddaughter got into his car to drive away when the shooter pointed their direction and started firing. Braylock's car was hit at least twice. At the scene, Minneapolis police were investigating two bullet holes in the back passenger side door of the vehicle where Braylock says his 17-year-old granddaughter was sitting.
"My granddaughter was sitting right there. The bullet didn’t go through. If it would have went through it would have hit her and that’s the scariest part," Braylock says.
Police say when they arrived and during their investigation on the scene, they noticed several children in the neighborhood. The shooting also happened near a park.
"It's very concerning," said Parten. "In fact, this is a bit shocking. In the middle of a sunny afternoon on a early fall day with school just getting into swing. We have those who have no respect for the sanctity of life, shooting and just hitting people. It shocks the conscience. It upsets us as police. It upsets the community."
The homicide remains under investigation.
There have been a handful of shootings involving children in north Minneapolis this year.
Over the course of several weeks in April and May, three young children were shot in the head in north Minneapolis. Aniya Allen, 6, and Trinity Ottoson-Smith, 9, both died from their injuries. Ten-year-old Ladavionne Garrett, Jr., who was shot on April 30 remains hospitalized. According to family updates, he was able to start breathing on his own last month. All three cases remain unsolved. A combined reward of $180,000 is being offered for information leading to arrests in the three shootings. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit CrimeStoppersMN.org.