Minneapolis encampment shooting leaves 1 dead, another injured
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An early morning shooting at a Minneapolis homeless encampment on Wednesday left one person dead and another injured, according to police.
What we know
Police responded to a ShotSpotter notification around 4:40 a.m., which detected four shots had been fired near an alley on the 2600 block of 17th Avenue South.
Police responded to the scene and found two men who had been shot. One of the men, described as being in his 20s, was found inside the encampment with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man in his 30s had been shot in the neck at least once, and he was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center with what Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara described as serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Chief O'Hara said the area where the fatal shooting occurred was in a homeless encampment, and it hasn't been the only shooting associated with this particular encampment.
"There’s been way too much crime and violence this year and way too much associated with the homeless encampments," said O'Hara at a press conference.
Once the scene is clear, police said they will work with the city to clear the encampment.
What we don’t know
While the motive for the shooting is unknown, O'Hara said they do have "significant information" on a possible suspect responsible for the shooting.
One gun has been recovered from the scene, but authorities believe it was not the firearm used in the shooting.
What they're saying
Chief O'Hara touched on his frustration with the recent violence and how children trying to go to school in the morning have to deal with scenes like this.
"Kids are getting up, walking to the bus stop. Not only do they have to deal with walking past this [the encampment] every day, seeing needles and everything else that goes on here, but now they’re walking past crime scene tape. It’s a serious, serious issue," he said.
"This is not a problem that we're going to arrest our way out of. And it's frustrating to the police, just like it's frustrating to the residents, that an encampment gets cleared one day here, and it pops up, you know, the next day somewhere else. It's. It's frustrating for everyone involved," added O'Hara.