7 people shot overnight in Minneapolis, 1 dead; police chief says fewest casualties in shootings on July 4th weekend in years

Minneapolis police reported two consecutive shootings across the city Monday night.

A total of seven people were shot, including an 18-year-old who, according to police, succumbed to his injuries.

The eventful Sunday evening began shortly before 8 p.m. on Eat Street. According to the police report, an argument escalated into gunfire, presumably near the corner of 27th Street East and Nicollet Avenue, and when officers arrived, they found the 18-year-old shot. He later died.

An hour later, a shooting occurred on the city’s north side, near North Dowling Avenue and Fremont Avenue, where officers reported finding a 17-year-old girl shot and sitting in a car in serious condition.
A 30-year-old man was later admitted to the hospital with gunshot wounds reportedly from the same crime scene.

Then, as downtown bars closed around 2:30 a.m., three more adults were hit by bullets outside Augie’s Bourbon Street Cabaret.

The seventh shooting victim – a 16-year-old – was brought to HCMC in a stolen car at around 1:30 a.m.
Police said he did not cooperate, so they do not know where the shooting took place.

“There’s obviously a pattern: people get drunk, then take guns out of their cars and use them, you know, out of utter stupidity,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters on Monday.

It was the second time O’Hara had looked into crime related to the long holiday weekend – the first following fireworks set off by violent mobs of young people on the Fourth of July.

O’Hara stressed that the victims of Sunday’s shooting were the first of the four-day weekend.

“July 4, July 5, July 6, zero incidents. This is the first time this has happened in years,” he said. “Of course, that doesn’t change what we saw last night, which was a spike in violence. But at the same time, there are fewer shooting victims so far this month than even in 2019, so you have to keep things in perspective.”

Overall, O’Hara described the response to crime and activities during the long weekend as “progress.”

“It’s better than last year. We’re going to meet, go over our plans and figure out what we can do better,” O’Hara said. “Last night was disappointing because it would have been great to finish the weekend completely without anyone shooting. And we almost did that.”

No arrests were made in connection with the nighttime shootings.