21 Days of Peace worker injured by gunfire in north Minneapolis

A security guard was injured from a gunshot Monday night while working at a violence interrupter event in north Minneapolis.

As volunteers for 21 Days of Peace were wrapping up a barbecue around 9:30 p.m., the the security worker was shot near 36th and Penn avenues N., according to Minneapolis police.

The guard was hit in the neck, said the Rev. Jerry McAfee, founder of the faith-based violence prevention group and pastor of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, in a video.

The guard, McAfee said, had helped save a woman’s life earlier in the day by administering Narcan. He then joined other Peace members to serve a community meal near the troubled intersection. As the last remaining members were cleaning up from the barbecue, shots rang out, McAfee said in his video.

“People came out of the alley and started shooting,” McAfee said. The guard was hit in the neck and shoulder area, but was wearing a bulletproof vest, McAfee said.

Police are searching for suspects and working to determine the motivation, including whether the guard was the intended target of the shooting, said MPD spokesman Sgt. Garrett Parten.

Minneapolis contracts with several dozen community groups on efforts to intervene against violence in the city’s neighborhoods. McAfee has been at odds recently with city officials over the structure of the violence prevention efforts.