A shootout at a private homeless encampment in south Minneapolis late Monday night left eight people injured, four critically, less than 12 hours after another mass shooting on the city’s south side.
The gunfire erupted around 10 p.m. near the intersection of E. Lake Street and 28th Avenue S, police said. An off-duty officer working at a nearby Target store was approached by several people running from a torrent of bullets a few blocks away.
Responding officers found five victims inside the encampment, including a man and a woman, each gravely wounded in their respective tents from a shot to the head. Another man was struck in the stomach.
Three more self-transported to area hospitals, including one man with gunshot wounds to the neck and torso.
Investigators collected approximately 30 shell casings from the crime scene, but noted there might be more hidden amid a dense layer of debris. Evidence suggests there was an exchange of gunfire between at least two people. A fire broke out in one of the tents as police were processing the site, requiring intervention from the fire department.
The shooting occurred at the private encampment set up by prominent Minneapolis landlord Hamoudi Sabri, on a parking lot behind a vacant building he owns on E. Lake Street, city officials said. Sabri has been in a battle with the city to keep the encampment open for months — ignoring $15,000 in citations and daring them to get a court order.
“This is a whole lot worse than a nuisance,” an exasperated Mayor Jacob Frey said during an overnight press conference. “This is a danger to the community. They deserve better.”
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