Several suspects ambush, assault 2 Minneapolis church staff in parking lot Sunday

Several suspects ambushed two staff members outside a south Minneapolis church Sunday morning, pushing one to the pavement and robbing him, police and a church official said Monday.

The incident occurred about 8:10 a.m. outside St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community in the 4500 block of 3rd Av. S. Police said Monday that no arrests have been made.

This incident is at least the fifth criminal act at a Minneapolis house of worship in less than two months.

A church administrator said the two men are maintenance employees.

“No one should fear violence at their place of worship,” Mayor Jacob Frey posted on social media. “We stand with St. Joan of Arc and all Minneapolis faith communities affected by recent attacks.”

According to police:

Officers responded to a report of a robbery and arrived at the scene to find two men had been injured.

The suspects injured one of the men with a push to the pavement and robbed him of a wallet. The other man was hurt while ducking to avoid an object thrown at him. The suspects got back in the vehicles and drove off.

The two men, both from Edina, were evaluated at the scene by emergency medical responders and arranged their own transportation to a hospital, according to police.

Police have not released any descriptions of the suspects.

“There was camera footage of the incident,” and police obtained a license plate for one of the suspects’ vehicles, according to a police report.

St. Joan of Arc parish administrator Dennis Heaney told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the men, one 57 and the other 60, were on the job and walking from one parish building into the main parking lot outside the church when they were confronted.

The other maintenance worker was between cars when one of the suspects “threw something at him,” Heaney said. “I think it was a parking cone. He twisted his back in the process.”

On Aug. 27, gunfire at Annunciation Catholic Church and School killed two children and left 28 others injured. The shooter, Robin Westman, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot.

St. Joan of Arc leadership said in the wake of the Annunciation shooting, which occurred about 1½ miles to the north, that it is leaning on a detailed security plan created more than a decade ago.

The document covers “just about every contingency you can imagine,” Heaney said last month, but the Annunciation shooting prompted staff to revisit and recommit to it. The plan includes locking doors during services and regular consultation with parishioners who work in law enforcement.

On Oct. 8, Temple Israel, the state’s largest synagogue, was tagged with graffiti expressing threatening language about Zionism and a direct reference to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. Tuesday was the two-year anniversary of the attack.

In anticipation of the Oct. 7 anniversary, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said soon after the Temple Israel vandalism that patrols were already directed to focus on all houses of worship in the city, and he announced the investment of more resources “for the foreseeable future.”

Heaney said Monday that he has noticed police patrolling the St. Joan of Arc parking lot more often of late. He said an ambulance and police responded quickly to Sunday’s incident.

“We are just extremely grateful and impressed by the Third Precinct police,” he said. “They were thorough and compassionate.”