'I want to see results': Somali community members call for police action following gang violence

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - At a community center in the Minneapolis Cedar-Riverside neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, emotions ran high.

“We just want the shootings to stop,” said one woman.

The meeting with Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and members of the department came after a week of gun violence in the Somali community.

“We don’t have any trust anymore, because we don’t get any feedback,” said one man.

In what police describe as at least four gang-related shootings this weekend throughout the metro, a 17-year-old boy lost his life and several others are fighting to survive.

“This is becoming cross-jurisdictional, kids are coming from Burnsville, they’re coming from the suburbs, they’re coming from St. Paul,” said Minneapolis Councilman Abdi Warsame. “So this is a problem wider than Riverside and Karmel [Mall]. 

It’s been an ongoing cycle of violence, that is fueling fear in a lot of families.

“The question is, what is law enforcement doing, what are Minneapolis police doing?” said one woman in attendance.

“I will tell you, that we will bring, I will bring as chief, everything I can to bear in terms of resources to make sure we do everything we can to stop this,” said Chief Arradondo.

In a push for more neighborhood policing, the call for action is growing louder.

“We want something to be done and we want tangible things, because summer is coming up and I want to see results,” said a man.

“We can solve it, we can’t give up,” said Warsame. “If we give up we’re giving up on ourselves.”