Police: Teens in stolen Kia arrested after Minneapolis Public School building hit by bullets
Surveillance video provided by Minneapolis police shows the teens hanging out of the stolen vehicle while riding around on Monday. (Supplied)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Three teenagers riding in a stolen Kia were arrested after shots were fired in Minneapolis, striking a school district building on Monday.
Officers responded to reports of approximately a dozen shots fired along Girard Avenue North on Monday afternoon. Soon after, workers at Minneapolis Public School's Davis Center reported that the building had been hit by bullets.
Through surveillance video and witness accounts, officers identified a group of teenagers driving a stolen Kia who had fled the scene.
Officers spotted the teens in the area of Lowry Avenue North and Logan Avenue North and began to chase the vehicle, but the pursuit ended due to a bus unloading students in the area. Police, however, continued to track the vehicle using cameras and a state patrol helicopter. Officers caught up with the vehicle near Lyndale with a second pursuit eventually ending near 28th Street East and Portland Avenue South, where the teens abandoned the stolen Kia and attempted to flee on foot. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, along with other officers, successfully arrested three of the teenagers.
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The teen boys were taken to the Juvenile Detention Center on charges related to weapons possession. Two firearms were discovered in the stolen car.
"The reckless and violent behavior being undertaken by juveniles in stolen Kia and Hyundai vehicles is an emergency," wrote Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara in a statement. "These juveniles are a danger to themselves and to anyone who happens to be around them. For the past year, they have been allowed to continue to wreak havoc in our neighborhoods with no recourse and no consequences. We cannot continue to tolerate this behavior."
According to the police, the pursuit of the teens was possible due to a recent modification to the police pursuit policy in Minneapolis, which permits officers to pursue suspects in cases involving firearm felonies.