70 casings, many scars, no answers almost a year after Uptown Minneapolis mass shooting

It's been almost a year, but sometimes Kenisha Collins still has to convince herself that it's safe to venture outside after dark. Large crowds are unsettling, too.

On a balmy night last June, Collins and a group of friends were standing in line outside a restaurant in Uptown Minneapolis when a gunfight erupted on the crowded street, injuring 11 people. Collins was hit twice in the knee and once in the thigh.

The incident made national headlines at a time when much of the world's gaze was focused on Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd and the unrest that followed.

But since then local authorities have said next to nothing about what is considered one of the most casualty-laden shootings in the city's history, even as the anniversary of the incident approaches on June 21. They still have not publicly released details of the incident, offered a potential motive or named any suspects.

When the gunfire started, Collins' friend wrapped her arm protectively around Collins' head. The friend was shot several times, with one bullet striking her arm.

"Not even thank God, but if her arm wasn't there, I would've been grazed in my face," said Collins, 23, who has a GoFundMe page to help pay for her ongoing medical bills.

Things were never the same after that night, she says.

She says the episode exacted as much of an emotional toll as a physical one. For months, she has had a recurring nightmare in which she is shot. She still gets anxious while out in public. "I don't go around big crowds," she said. "I don't like to get on the bus."

That night, Dustin Sanchez, 39, had walked down to Hennepin Avenue, which had been blocked with concrete barricades to stop the car sideshows in which drivers perform doughnuts and other tricks in city streets.

The area, known for its bars and nightlife, had been more crowded than usual as nearby businesses reopened following weeks of COVID-19 closures. Hundreds of people wandered the closed off street.

Sanchez remembered chatting up a couple of cops when the bullets started flying and everyone ducked for cover.

"You could actually hear them going over your head," he said. "It was pretty crazy."

Steve Taylor, who runs the Uptown Crime Facebook page, said that residents and business owners have for months demanded answers from city leaders like Council President Lisa Bender, whose ward includes part of Uptown.

"It plays into the politics to ignore crime or downplay crime when they go around to neighborhood meetings," said Taylor. "There's definitely like a black hole of information when it comes to Uptown."

The MPD didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Bender said the shooting was a "terrible example" of the violence that swept Minneapolis and other U.S. cities last year.

Bender said that in the wake of the shooting she and Council Member Lisa Goodman began reaching out to local business owners about "planning for a safe environment for visitors, residents and employees which led to some immediate changes in business practices and city safety plans."

Mayor Jacob Frey, who often has found himself at odds with some council members over the best way to address rising shootings and homicides in parts of the city, said that "we are committed to investing in comprehensive community safety systems and supporting Chief Arradondo to break cycles of violence that impact too many Minneapolis residents."

"The gunfire that rang out in the first few hours of June 21, 2020 was terrifying, unacceptable and will forever change the lives of those involved," he said in a statement. "As a city, we were — and are — grateful the injuries sustained were not life threatening, but we need to make it crystal clear that this violence will not be tolerated in our city."

No arrests or charges have been brought in the case, which police say remains under investigation.

The few details about the incident that have trickled out so far were included in a search warrant affidavit filed in Hennepin County District Court days after the shooting.

According to the affidavit, investigators reviewed video surveillance footage from the area showing a man running on Hennepin past a group of people after the initial bursts of gunfire. The man is then reportedly seen turning around and firing into Hoban Korean BBQ, where people were lined up to get inside.

Authorities said they found at least 70 spent shell casings at the scene. Several witnesses were broadcasting on Facebook Live at the time and captured the chaotic aftermath of the shooting, which came amid a spate of violence that coincided with last summer's protests.

In some of the videos, the sound of approaching police sirens mixed with panicked screams as onlookers searched for their friends and tried to make sense of what happened.

One man's injuries left him using a wheelchair, and officials say he could be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

Rumors quickly spread through the streets that the shooting resulted from a long-running beef between two rival gang members, who ran into each other in the crowd and exchanged words. One of the men eventually walked back to where his friends were hanging out, outside Hoban, apparently unaware that he was being followed by the rival or someone in his crew. A short time later, gunshots rang out.

During the ensuing investigation, a police informant pointed detectives to the Facebook page of one of the suspected gunmen and said the man was affiliated with the FreeShotz, a younger, more violent subset of the YNT (Young 'N Thuggin') gang.

They later brought the man in for questioning. They showed him a picture of the shooter, but the man denied it was him and said he had nothing to do with the shooting, according to the affidavit.

It was not clear whether the man, who is only identified by his initials in the affidavit, or anyone else has ever been charged in the case.

Collins, who was waiting to go inside Hoban when the shooting started, said that after months of recovery she is finally walking without a limp.

"It's kind of hard to walk still. I can't stand up too long or I can't sit down too long," she said. For months, she's had versions of a dream in which she is shot.

"If I have dreams like that, I believe that something is bound to happen and I believe that if I'm around and somebody starts to shooting, I feel like I may not be as lucky next time," she said.