Man guilty of killing 2, wounding 7 in 2021 shooting outside Minneapolis nightclub

A Hennepin County jury on Wednesday convicted a man of murder and attempted murder in last year's shooting outside a downtown Minneapolis nightclub that killed two and injured seven.

The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Jawan Carroll, 25, of St. Paul guilty on two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder.

The conviction comes the day after Carroll testified that he fired in self-defense during the shootout while partying at the Monarch club with friends on May 22, 2021.

He said his group got into a fight with another group before he shot and killed Christopher R. Jones Jr., 24, of Brooklyn Park in an exchange of gunfire. A stray bullet fatally struck Charlie B. Johnson, 21, of Golden Valley, in the back as he ran away. Johnson died just hours away from graduating from the University of St. Thomas.

"I thank the jury for finding the truth," said Johnson's father, Greg Johnson. "It was pretty clear what the truth was and what the lies were, and there were a lot of lies."

The father said that as each of the nine verdicts were read in court, "I felt it all the way down to my toes."

"I wish I could say I was happy about it," he said. "I'm happy that that menace is off the street."

Johnson's mother, Veronique Johnson, said "I Am Charlie," a mantra the family has inscribed on hundreds of bracelets that are orange — a symbol of gun violence awareness — and to serve as a reminder to live like their son.

"Charlie was with us today and all the way through for the trial," she said.

"We're committed," Greg Johnson said, pausing to hold back tears, "to carrying Charlie through us for the rest of our lives, living like he taught us to live and that's be kind, have empathy for other people, have an adventurous spirit and go out and explore the world with curiosity."

Shanell Jones, the mother of Jones' son, said she now has some closure.

"The prosecutors did their thing," she said. "They got a monster off the streets."

Carroll's attorney Bruce Rivers said Wednesday that he doesn't understand how the jury didn't see this as a case of self-defense. "He was being shot at within just a few seconds," he said. Rivers declined to comment further.

Carroll testified that when he fled the scene, he was unaware of the fatalities. But he said he returned to his hotel room to throw away his clothes and .40-caliber gun. Carroll told prosecutors that he fired about 10 rounds — first a series of four at Jones' torso, then about five more — and he didn't have a permit to carry.

Among the seven wounded, one woman was shot in the cheek and neck, with another bullet coming within an inch of her skull, according to charges. One man was struck three times in the shoulder and buttocks, and another was grazed under his right eye.

Within several hours of the shooting, investigators learned that Carroll, who testified he was homeless, was living at the Comfort Inn in Bloomington. Officers arrested him during a traffic stop.

Carroll told police he "didn't do anything" and was innocent because he knew the circumstances that led up to the shooting. He put the blame on Jones.

He testified that he had no "personal animosity with Mr. Jones." But he knew that Jones had allegedly shot at one of Carroll's friends in 2015, and he said Jones drew his firearm first.

"I was protecting myself from being murdered, being killed," Carroll said.

In his lengthy closing argument, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Joshua Larson told jurors that Carroll cannot rely on self-defense in his act of "shocking and remorseless violence."

Carroll will be sentenced Dec. 12.