Two seriously hurt after shooting in Robbinsdale park; suspects still at large

Two people were shot and seriously injured Sunday night in a Robbinsdale park, and police are still searching for suspects.

Officers arrived to a “chaotic scene” in Sanborn Park about 9:20 p.m. and found a 19-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was taken by paramedics to North Memorial Health Hospital, with “grave” injuries, said Robbinsdale police Capt. John Elder.

About 45 minutes later, a man in his 20s who was also shot in Robbinsdale showed up at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. He was taken from there to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, with serious injuries, Elder said.

The man was expected to survive, Elder added.

Police were just a few blocks away when they heard multiple gunshots and raced to the scene. About the same time, several 911 calls came in with reports of a shooting at the park in the 4200 block of Drew Avenue N.

One of those 911 calls came from Gary Meyer, who lives directly across the street from the idyllic park where people go to watch baseball games, walk their dogs and enjoy family picnics.

Meyer was out picking up trash about 8 p.m. and watched over the next hour as more and more people arrived in the parking lot that filled with about 30 to 40 vehicles. He smelled and saw alcohol and marijuana, and had a feeling something bad was going to happen, he said.

Then at 9:21 p.m. it did.

“Pop, pop, pop, about 50 times,” Meyer said.

Those in the park scattered on foot “left and right,” Meyer said. Two men ran through his yard, one who may have been shot. “They did not know where to go.”

Others sped off in vehicles at high speeds, Elder said.

As an ambulance arrived, Meyer said he saw a victim lying in the parking lot with police performing CPR. She was taken away in an ambulance, he said.

“This should not happen anywhere,” Meyer said. “Ridiculous.”

Elder said the park is normally a peaceful place, with kids climbing on the roof of a stone building being the most serious of crimes. Police had just been at the park about 30 minutes before the shooting to remind park users that Sanborn closed at 10 p.m., Elder said.

Police on Monday were still trying to figure out what led to the shooting. On Sunday, “people were not helpful” to investigators who were trying to learn what happened, Elder said.

Officers cordoned off parts of the park and Drew Avenue, with crime scene tape at the bottom of steps leading to Meyer’s home.

As the sun came up Monday, Meyer and his wife, Heather Ring, were still trying to process what happened right across the street.

“We really love living here. This is really, really sad,” Ring said. “This was something you would not expect to see even in the movies. It was kind of nuts.”