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Minneapolis safety meeting following mass shooting
Community leaders in Minneapolis, including Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, city council member Elizabeth Shaffer, members of the Minneapolis Police Department and more are discuss what is being done surrounding public safety concerns less than a week after several shootings happened throughout the city.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis City Council is reevaluating the liquor license for Reign nightclub in Uptown after a mass shooting left nine people hurt over the weekend.
Mass shooting outside Reign
The backstory:
Nine people were injured after shots rang out early Sunday morning outside Reign nightclub along Hennepin Avenue in Uptown.
Police say some type of altercation outside the club led to the conflict. Some of the shots may have been fired from a vehicle. That shooting came just hours before a mass shooting in the Stevens Square neighborhood Sunday night. Police say there doesn't be a connection between the two shootings.
What we know:
On Tuesday, Reign's liquor license was among a handful of licenses up for normal renewal at the city council's Business, Housing and Zoning Committee.
However, during the meeting, Council Member Jamal Osman, the chair of the meeting, flagged the license as something the council should postpone a decision on.
What they're saying:
Osman moved for the council to delay a decision on the license. "We have authority to look into [the shooting] and make sure that these businesses are operating responsible, and making sure keeping the public safe," said Osman.
Council Member Jason Chavez questioned why Reign had even been put up for renewal given 911 calls to the club's address reportedly triple between 2021 and 2024.
"[I'm] trying to understand why this is still being brought forward," questioned Chavez. He later added: ""I think when we talk about finding different tools to address public safety concerns, this is one tool and I hope that we are able to use a tool to address the safety concerns happening in the area. Because no one should ever have to experience what folks did over the weekend. I just hope this item doesn't come back."
"The violence in our streets to this magnitude is outrageous, is unacceptable," added Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer, who represents Uptown. "And I'm thankful to all of the first responders who responded at the moment and who have responded since then. We take this seriously."
Dig deeper:
City staff explained that 911 call data can sometimes be misattributed, and they were working to analyze those calls.
""The thing with 911 calls is it's very often attributed to an entire block or the first section," a staff member explained. "So we need to do a deep dive analysis to see how much is related to the business itself and not just the area where they named the business because that's the easiest thing they see."
What's next:
The council voted to delay a decision on the license until the committee's next meeting on Aug. 4.