Shots were fired through a parked van's windshield shortly after sunrise Tuesday in south Minneapolis, killing a man inside, authorities said.

The shooting occurred at 6:47 a.m. in the 2000 block of Oakland Avenue, said police Sgt. William Palmer. No arrests have been made.

A woman in a nearby apartment heard the shots but dismissed them, thinking it was someone at work. "It sounded like a hammer, and I'm like, 'Why would someone be hammering at this hour of the morning?'" said the woman, who gave her first name as Karen. No one in her building saw the shooting, she said.

Police were alerted to the gunfire by their electronic ShotSpotter system. It was the second killing in that neighborhood in recent days.

No suspects are in custody in any of the killings. The first occurred Saturday morning in the 2100 block of Penn Avenue N. One man, 21 years old, was killed and another wounded.

The second occurred Saturday night, when a 30-year-old man was shot in an apartment building hall in the 2200 block of 5th Avenue S. Police found him bleeding at E. 22nd Street and Portland Avenue.

A woman in that neighborhood said she and her boyfriend were drawn to the crime scene moments after the shooting by police lights. Her boyfriend saw authorities load the body onto a gurney.

Tuesday morning's homicide took place less than a block away, she said. She chalked it up to drug dealing. Another man from her building, who didn't give his name, said he wasn't surprised. "It's a block off of crack alley!" he shouted. "What do you expect?"

Peavey Park, a flashpoint for police and drug dealing, is one block east of the homicide scene. The nearby intersection of Franklin and Portland Avenues also has a long history of drug-dealing arrests.

"It doesn't matter where you go," said Karen, who sat nearby as the man talked. "Even in the middle of a nice, peaceful town, things can happen."

Anyone with information is asked to call the police Tips Line at 612-692-8477.

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329 Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482