Minneapolis police are looking for suspects involved in an apparent shootout near a Camden neighborhood intersection Tuesday morning, in which a bullet shattered a window of a K-8 charter school. No one was injured, but police said that at least four parked vehicles were struck by gunfire about 11 a.m. in the area of 39th and Emerson avenues N. One of the bullets shattered the window of Sojourner Truth Academy, landing in the stairwell through which students, faculty and staff regularly pass, officials said.
Police at the scene collected 15 spent shell casings from two different caliber weapons, as well as two bullet slugs, according to an incident report.
"People called in that they heard shots fired; it was someone shooting out of a vehicle," said police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Michal. "Not only was a window shot out of a school, they also had cars that were damaged."
Eyewitnesses told later told police that an unidentified man sitting behind the wheel of a white Oldsmobile sedan began firing through his window while driving north on Emerson Avenue. The man continued firing even after his car screeched around the corner onto 39th Avenue, heading westbound.
It was unclear who or what he was firing at.
The midday shooting left some residents and parents shaken, said the school's executive director, Julie Guy, who added that "the staff and faculty acted quickly and swiftly to lock [the school] down."
Guy said that the bullet went through the window, ricocheted off two walls and ended up in a trash bin.
A community-led news conference is planned for Thursday afternoon to address Wednesday's shooting and other recent violent episodes in the area.
