Charges have been filed in a shooting in Minneapolis that left an off-duty firefighter dead

Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford, 28, of Monticello, faces three counts of first-degree armed riot resulting in death.

He is also charged with possession, possession or operation of a machine gun or a machine gun conversion kit and illegal possession of a firearm following a prior criminal conviction.

He appeared in court Tuesday, where bail was set at $800,000 with conditions or $1 million without conditions. He is due back in court on June 10.

Hammonds-Ford is not accused of firing the shot that killed 40-year-old Joseph Johns on May 5. However, the lawsuit accuses Hammonds-Ford of instigating the shooting that led to Johns’ death. And the complaint says the investigation into other suspects in connection with the shooting is ongoing.

Johns had been a volunteer with the Eden Prairie Fire Department since 2015. In 2020, he joined the Eagan Fire Department as a career firefighter. Court records show he was caught in the crossfire during the shootout.

According to the complaint against Hammonds-Ford:

Police officers responded to “a multi-shooter shooting and heavy gunfire” outside the Whiskey Junction bar in Minneapolis around 12:30 p.m. on May 5.

They found passersby giving CPR to Johns, who later died from his injuries. Investigators found 63 spent shell casings from seven different firearms.

Witnesses told police hundreds of people had gathered peacefully at the bar to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a motorcycle club when two groups of people standing on opposite sides of the street fired shots.

Surveillance video allegedly shows a group starting the altercation and subsequent shooting. And the complaint states that a man in that group – identified by authorities as Hammonds-Ford – “made provocative and threatening gestures, pointed his weapon at an upward angle … and fired a rapid succession of shots,” prompting additional people to comment prompted start shooting.

Johns, the complaint states, “was standing outside the bar directing traffic when the gunfire erupted and was caught in the crossfire.” It’s unclear where the fatal shot came from.

At least one other person was injured in the shooting.

The complaint says there is evidence that Hammonds-Ford had a gun with an automatic trigger, which converts a semi-automatic handgun into an automatic. And it is said he was banned from owning firearms after previously being convicted of threatening violence.