Man arrested in deadly 'shooting rampage' at Minneapolis homeless encampments

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis police have arrested a man who they say is responsible for three different shootings, including two separate homicides at homeless encampments in the Phillips neighborhood.

What we know

In an update shortly after 10 p.m., Minneapolis police announced they had made an arrest in both deadly shootings on Wednesday and a third shooting later Wednesday night.

Officers say the arrest followed the third shooting of the evening, which happened around 7:20 p.m. in the area of East Phillips Park near 17th Avenue South and East 24th Street.

In that shooting, a man was rushed to the hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

After shots were fired, officers flooded the neighborhood and arrested a man near 17th Avenue South and East 26th Street – the location of the first shooting of the day.

Officers believe the man is responsible for all three shootings.

"I am so proud and grateful for the dedicated work of our officers who worked with urgency and captured a suspected violent criminal who went on a shooting rampage today," said Minneapolis Polic Chief Brian O’Hara.  "We will all continue to serve with a sense of urgency to impact the gun violence that continues to occur at an unacceptable level."

First shooting

Around 4:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Minneapolis police responded to a fatal shooting at an encampment. 

That shooting also occurred in an alleyway in the area of 17th Avenue South and East 26th Street – just blocks from the later Bloomington Avenue shooting.

At that scene, investigators found two men who had been shot: a man in his 20s and a man in his 30s. The man in his 20s had been shot in the head and was found dead in the encampment.

The other victim was shot at least once in the neck. He was rushed to the hospital but is expected to survive, police said.

Second shooting

Less than 12 hours later, around 4:15 p.m., police responded to calls of shots fired in an alleyway along Bloomington Avenue and East 25th, which is just steps away from an encampment.

Police tell FOX 9 that a man in his 30s was shot and killed. Officers say it appears a group of people walked up to the victim, who was standing next to the garage, and shot him in the head, and left the scene.

Right now, police say it's unclear if the victim lived in the encampment.

Encampment crime

After the morning shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara called out problems with crime at encampments.

"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.

"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.