A woman in her mid-20s was critically wounded Tuesday night when someone shot her in the head as she waited at a bus stop in south Minneapolis, police and witnesses said.

The victim, whose identity was not immediately released, was shot at the corner of Lake Street and Park Avenue S., next to a Shell gas station, according to multiple witnesses.

She was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where her condition was listed as critical late Tuesday.

Into the night three detectives picked their way through the shattered glass that littered the asphalt next to the bus shelter looking for shell casings or other evidence that could lead them to the shooter. They were soon joined by a fourth detective, who climbed over the crime-scene tape stretched across most of the block.

The shooting occurred just before 7 p.m. along a stretch of Lake Street in the West Phillips neighborhood that police and residents say has lately avoided the high levels of violent crime that once plagued the surrounding area.

Shortly after gunfire erupted, witnesses reported seeing a vehicle screeching away, down a narrow alley across the street from the gas station.

LIBOR JANY