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Minneapolis PD on homeless encampment shooting
After the second deadly shooting at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis, Chief Brian O'Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey spoke out about ongoing issues with encampments.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A man has been charged after he shot and killed three people at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis in October.
Forty-year-old Earl Bennett has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder with intent in relation to the shootings.
What happened?
The scene of the shooting at the homeless encampment on the 4400 block of Snelling Ave.
According to the charges, on the afternoon of Oct. 27, officers responded to multiple calls reporting a shooting at a homeless encampment near railroad tracks behind the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue in Minneapolis.
At the scene, officers found three people inside a tent, each suffering from several gunshot wounds, court documents say. The first victim, identified later as Christopher Washington, was found with several gunshot wounds, and was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
READ MORE: Another shooting at a Minneapolis encampment leaves 2 dead
The second victim, later identified as Louis Lemons Jr., was found with a gunshot wound to the back of the head and his neck, and was also pronounced dead at the scene. The third victim, identified as Samantha Jo Moss, had a gunshot wound to her head, shoulder and hand and later died at the hospital on Nov. 2.
According to the charges, after speaking to several witnesses at the encampment, officers learned that the three victims were inside a tent smoking methamphetamine, when a man wearing a "balaclava-type" mask walked up and asked for Washington by a known nickname. The man said he needed to talk to Washington, and said his name was "E".
After the man pulled his mask down to identify himself, Washington let him inside the tent. After being in the tent for about 10–15 minutes, witnesses say they heard multiple gunshots go off, a pause, and more gunshots go off.
The man then left the tent and fled the scene on his electric bike.
Locating Bennett
According to court documents, officers obtained surveillance footage from the area near the shooting, which shows the man, later identified as Bennett, arriving at the encampment on an electric bike and entering the tent. The video also captured the sound of several gunshots coming from the victim's tent. It then shows Bennett leaving the tent and biking away.
More video obtained from a gas station nearby, shows Bennett several hours before the shooting took place, wearing the same clothes and having the same bike as seen in the footage from the encampment.
The day after the shooting, officers responded to a different shooting at a sober living home in Minneapolis. In that shooting, Bennett allegedly shot a sober living support staff member in the neck after he was told he needed to do a drug test. He was charged with premeditated first-degree attempted murder in that shooting.
Bennett then left that scene and was found by St. Paul police, where he allegedly drew a firearm which resulted in him being shot by police officers. Bennett was then taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Officers were able to recover Bennett's firearm, whose casings matched the ones found at the scene of the encampment shooting.
Bennett remains hospitalized and in police custody.