Minneapolis police on Friday arrested two men in connection with the March 26 slaying of a man in the North Side's Webber-Camden neighborhood.

The arrests were made Thursday in the shooting death of Derrick Mack, 18, of Brooklyn Park. Police and scanner reports suggested that Mack was shot while standing outside the garage of a house in the 3800 block of Colfax Avenue N. by a suspect who may have fled the scene in a white Oldsmobile sedan. An autopsy found that Mack died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Nearly two weeks later, homicide detectives and members of the department's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested two men, ages 18 and 23, in connection with the crime. Both were jailed and they are awaiting charges.

Police also recovered the suspected murder weapon, department spokesman John Elder said on Friday. Authorities released no further information about the crime.

The Star Tribune typically doesn't name suspects who haven't been charged.

Family and friends described Mack — a recent graduate of Osseo High School — as outgoing, friendly and fiercely loyal to the people he loved, but who, like many young people, was still finding his way in life.

"Derrick was funny. He stayed with a smile on his face. You would never see him not smiling. He was so energetic. Everybody loved his presence," his cousin Teonna Marie said in a Facebook message. "His laugh is unforgettable, it was something that would even make you just smile. I remember just sitting in the house chilling, laughing. I remember growing up with him, he was protective of his family."

Number of shootings leaps

His death came amid a flurry of gun violence that has surged recently in Minneapolis — as it has in other Midwestern cities, such as Cleveland and Chicago.

Sixty-five people have been shot in Minneapolis through April 4, the last day for which police data were available, a 91 percent increase over the same period last year. In north Minneapolis alone, 48 people were injured in shootings, compared with 17 last year, police records show.

The city is also coping with a rise in violent crime, which has jumped nearly 7 percent compared with this time last year, department statistics show. In downtown, serious crimes like aggravated assaults and rapes have increased 17 percent, while the Second and Third police precincts have seen a sharp rise in the number of robberies, records show.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany