At least five struck by gunfire over weekend in north Minneapolis

At least five people were struck by gunfire, including an 18-year-old man who was shot dead, in separate shootings across north Minneapolis between Saturday morning and Sunday evening.

The shootings left residents in several North Side communities concerned, including in the Webber-Camden neighborhood, where on Saturday around midday Derrick Mack was gunned down by a person who fled before police arrived. Mack was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other victims were in vehicles or inside their homes. In one case, two people were shot near the corner of 34th and Fremont avenues N. shortly after midnight on Saturday. Around the same time the following night, a gunman opened fire at a house on the same block.

All of the shootings left questions about motives and whether any of the incidents were tied to a gang feud that police say is already likely responsible for one homicide this year. No arrests had been announced as of Monday afternoon.

The shootings come as gun-related violence has risen in Minneapolis — much like in other Midwestern cities, such as Cleveland and Chicago.

Fifty-four people have been shot in Minneapolis through March 21, the last day for which police data were available, an 86 percent increase over the same period last year. In north Minneapolis alone, 43 people were injured in shootings, compared with 15 last year, police records show.

Meanwhile, the city is also coping with a rise in violent crime, which has jumped 5.3 percent compared with this time last year. Serious crimes like aggravated assaults and rapes have increased 21 percent downtown, while the Second and Third police precincts have seen a sharp rise in the number of robberies, records show.

About 28 hours earlier, Mack, of Brooklyn Park, was struck while he was standing outside a garage behind a house on the 3800 block of Colfax Avenue N., according to police and scanner reports. An autopsy found that he had died of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide, the city's fourth of the year. Police said a possible suspect in the shooting, which happened just before noon, was seen fleeing north on DuPont Avenue N. in a white Oldsmobile sedan, according to scanner traffic.

The slaying prompted an outpouring of grief and sympathy online from friends and family of the aspiring rapper, who went by the monikers "Smooth" or "Lil' Derrick."

Later Saturday, about 6 p.m., a 17-year-old boy was hit by a bullet in his right arm near the intersection of 23rd and Penn avenues N., police said. He was taken to North Memorial Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition over the weekend, police said.