Minneapolis police appeal for help in teen's homicide, 14th of year

Minneapolis police on Wednesday appealed for help in their investigation into the slaying of a 17-year-old boy who died in a shooting the night before, the latest in a recent spate of unsolved killings.

Authorities said the teenager, whose name will be released after an autopsy is performed, was found dead in the Jordan neighborhood around 10:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Michal said Wednesday that preliminary information suggested that the homicide, Minneapolis' 14th of the year, wasn't related to any other recent shootings in the city. She said detectives had made good progress and were continuing to interview witnesses.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests had been made.

The victim was found in a vehicle that had crashed into several parked cars in the area of 26th and Knox avenues N. about 10:37 p.m., in what was initially thought to be an accident. But when officers arrived they realized that the boy had been shot and summoned paramedics to the scene. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

The same block was the scene of another shooting last spring in which a 36-year-old man was shot in the leg, but survived.

Tuesday's incident bore a grim resemblance to another slaying this week, in which 22-year-old Chartez Clark was found shot to death in a van that crashed, reportedly after first striking a tree and a fire hydrant. That incident occurred about 2 a.m. Monday at the intersection of 32nd Street and Blaisdell Avenue S.

Michal said detectives investigators were processing the van, which days before had been reported stolen.

Four people have died from shootings across the city during a violent eight-day period as the crime-heavy summer months approach.

On June 6, Melvin A. Felton, 37, was struck by gunfire outside of a house in the 3300 block of Newton Avenue N. during an attack just before 6 p.m. He was sitting on a stoop in front of the house in north Minneapolis' Folwell Neighborhood, when a gunman or gunmen opened fire. It's unclear whether Felton, who died at an area hospital, was the intended target. Michal said that detectives are making "good progress" in their investigation, but that they are still asking for the public's help in catching the shooter.

On June 8, an as-yet-unidentified man was found dead about 7:15 a.m. in the area of Lyndale Avenue S. and Dunwoody Boulevard, near downtown. Police said that his death is for now being treated as suspicious, and not homicide, as they await a final determination from the Hennepin County Medical examiner's office.

On June 11, 36-year-old Hussein A. Hussein was killed about 1:09 a.m. near the intersection of E. 16th Street and Park Avenue by a man who later told police he had acted in self-defense. Homicide detectives this week obtained a search warrant to search the south Minneapolis home of the man, who himself was shot before allegedly unloading 12 9mm rounds at Hussein. The man told police that he had gone outside to clear his head after a fight with his fiancé, when he was confronted by a man who pulled a gun on him, the warrant said. Hussein was found at the scene, holding a handgun, police said.

The recent spate of violence has been something of an anomaly.

While nearly every crime category is up this year, compared to the first half of 2016, the number of people shot has declined citywide. Shootings have declined nearly 40 percent on the city's North Side, home to some of the city's hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Authorities asked people with information about any of the shootings to texting 847411 (TIP411) or call 612-692-8477.