Five people were wounded during a brazen morning shooting in south Minneapolis on Monday, when an unknown assailant reportedly unleashed a flurry of rounds into a group near the Midtown Greenway and Lake Street transit station.
Minneapolis police responded to a shots-fired call on Stevens Avenue near E. Lake Street just after 11 a.m. and found four men who had been injured. The location is between the Midtown Greenway and an Interstate 35W exit ramp.
One victim was rushed to HCMC with serious injuries after he was struck in the head and neck region, police said. Three others were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. A fifth victim with an apparent graze wound declined medical treatment.
Preliminary information indicates shots were fired from near the popular Greenway, but more gunfire is suspected to have come from the adjacent exit ramp, closer to Lake Street. Investigators said witnesses provided conflicting accounts, so it’s not immediately clear whether there was more than one gunman — or whether they fired from a passing vehicle.
No arrests have been made in the case as of Monday afternoon.
This stretch, just off I-35W, has long been plagued by violence and open drug use. Homeless encampments occasionally crop up along the nearby exit ramp, sometimes spilling into the street. At least three shootings have occurred in the vicinity over the past month.
“This walkway has been terrible,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during an afternoon news briefing at the site. “It’s just a whole lot of people congregating that are using drugs. There’s all kinds of garbage and debris. We believe this disorder is contributing to other problems that the community has been experiencing on Lake Street.”
O’Hara advocated that the city take “immediate action” to close the walkway, noting the space remains littered with trash despite twice-daily cleanings.
