Police: ‘Targeted’ shooting leaves three dead in south Minneapolis, two others seriously hurt

Three people are dead and two others are in the hospital following what police are saying was a “targeted” and possibly gang-related shooting in south Minneapolis.

Shotspotter activations drew officers to an alley near the intersection of Bloomington Avenue and E. 25th Street in the Phillips Midtown neighborhood just before midnight Tuesday. Police arrived to find five victims, said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

Three of the victims — two men and a woman — were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others, a man and a woman, were taken to a hospital with injuries. The man, O’Hara said, was in “grave” condition.

“Early indications are this shooting has a high probability that it was targeted and potentially gang related,” O’Hara said, adding that about an hour later, several rounds were fired five blocks south. Police did not find any victims, but did find evidence of gunfire, O’Hara said. Shortly after that, someone was dropped off at Abbott Northwestern Hospital with gunshot wounds.

It was not immediately clear if the second shooting was related to the first, but it “potentially is,” he said.

“Tonight our city is grieving after a relative period of peace,” O’Hara said during a media briefing near the crime scene outside of several markets, which also included a vehicle. “This is an absolutely senseless tragedy. These victims were targeted.”

O’Hara said family members of the victims arrived on scene as officers were attempting to save their lives.

“This is a very serious tragedy and we’re not going to rest until we identify who is responsible for this and bring them to justice,” he said.

One of the deceased victims was found on a sidewalk; others were inside a vehicle in an alley, O’Hara said.

All of the victims were believed to be adults, O’Hara said.

No arrests have been made, but investigators have recovered an “extensive” amount of evidence at the original scene. The first shooting “has a high probability that it was targeted and potentially gang-related,” O’Hara said.

”Now more than ever, we need our community to stand up and not accept this level of violence. It is proven that if people are able to come forward with information as soon as possible, that will help us to provide some sense of justice for these victims and these family members.”

The killings come amid a recent spate of homicides — totaling six in just under two weeks — after Minneapolis went 62 days without a homicide, starting Feb. 15 and ending the night of April 18, when a man in his 20s was shot near the intersection of 5th Avenue S. and 9th Avenue S. in downtown Minneapolis. He died five days later.

The last year that came close was 2017, when there were 45 days without a homicide between January and March.

There have been 14 homicides in the city so far this year, according to a Star Tribune database. That compares to 19 at this time last year in the city.