Mass shooting at Minneapolis homeless encampment injures 7 people

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis police are investigating a mass shooting at a homeless encampment late Monday night that left seven people hurt.

The shooting comes as police are investigating another mass shooting that injured five people just hours earlier. 

Mass shooting at homeless encampment

What we know:

The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. on Monday near 28th and East Lake Street in the Longfellow neighborhood. Police reported that seven people, four women and three men, were shot. Four of the victims were located at the encampment while three others walked or self-transported to nearby hospitals before police arrived at the scene.

At the encampment, police found a woman inside a tent with a life-threatening gunshot wound to the head. Another man at the encampment also sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound. One woman had a non-life-threatening leg injury, while another woman sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound to the neck.

Of the three who went to hospitals, one man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound walked into Children’s Hospital and was transferred to Hennepin Healthcare. A woman with a graze wound walked into Abbott Northwestern, and a man with life-threatening gunshot injuries to his neck and torso arrived at Regions Hospital.

In total, two men and two women have life-threatening injuries, while the other three are expected to survive. Police initially reported eight people were injured in the shooting, but authorities later clarified that one of the victims was counted twice by officers.

It’s unclear what led to the gunfire, but police believe it was a shootout between at least two people. 

Officers recovered multiple shell casings at the scene, but police are uncertain if all the casings have been discovered given the debris inside the encampment. Some of the tents in the encampment started on fire after the shooting, and firefighters were called in to put out the flames.

‘We’ll see you in court’

What they're saying:

At a press conference held on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey lamented the current violence happening at the encampment, saying a problem that officials saw ahead of time has now come to fruition.

"We tried to close down this encampment months ago. It was my intent to stop these deaths from the beginning. These encampments are not safe. They are not compassionate," said a visibly frustrated Frey. "When you set up a homeless encampment it becomes an open market for drugs… Homeless encampments do not reduce harm, they entrench it."

According to Frey, the encampment now remains under police control until a temporary restraining order can be granted. A hearing is currently scheduled for Sept. 17.

"If the owner wants to sue us, then we will see him in court," Frey said on Tuesday. "We did not want it to go this way."

Minneapolis Police Chief O’Hara also reiterated that there will be increased patrols throughout the area going forward to help ensure the safety of residents.

"There's been far too many victims, there's been a lot of trauma in the community. People need to know we're not going to quit. We're going to continue to do everything that we possibly can both to hold these folks accountable and try to do things to prevent future violence from happening," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara. 

What we don't know:

Police are working to determine what led up to the shooting.

So far, no arrests have been made. 

Lawsuit against encampment property owner 

The backstory:

The shooting occurred at the site of an ongoing legal battle where city officials are suing landowner Hamoudi Sabri for refusing to clear the encampment. The city declared the property a "public health nuisance" and previously voiced concerns about the posed safety and health risks. 

Sabri’s M&S Properties, LLC, is facing approximately $15,000 in citations and fines related to the encampment. The Minneapolis City Council met on Sept. 8 and voted 6-4 in favor of moving forward with litigating against Sabri. The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 11. 

Clearing encampment:

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said that officials will be clearing the encampment once the crime scene has been cleared. 

"As soon as this crime scene has been investigated, we're shutting this thing down. If [Sabri] wants to sue us, he can. If he wants to take this up in court, that is certainly his prerogative, but this is not safe. This is a danger to the community and it's being shut down right now," Frey said during a press conference Monday night.

Crews arrived on scene Tuesday morning to begin dismantling tents, clearing items and removing other debris from the property. 

The other side:

Sabri responded to the late night encampment shootings at his property, saying in part: 

"Over only a few weeks, three mass shootings have shaken our city. The most recent left [seven] people wounded — some critically — on my Lake Street property. This is a solemn and tragic moment for Minneapolis. My message is simple: every victim of violence — whether by gunfire, by poverty, or by being forced to live in unsafe places — deserves equal care, dignity, and urgency."

The statement continues, "I did not create this crisis. I responded to it — by opening my property to people with nowhere else to go and by inviting the City to collaborate on real solutions. That invitation still stands. The real moral failure is Mayor Frey. He displaces instead of heals, retaliates instead of collaborates, and chooses optics over human care. Every victim deserves equal care. Every neighborhood deserves dignity. Until Minneapolis rejects displacement and embraces care, we will keep reliving the same tragedies."

Lake Street transit mass shooting

Dig deeper:

The mass shooting near 28th and East Lake Street comes approximately 12 hours after another mass shooting in Minneapolis that left five people hurt.

Police responded to multiple reports of a shooting in the area of Greenway near Lake Street and Stevens Avenue, just steps from the transit station, shortly after 11 a.m. on Monday. 

The shooting left five people injured, including one person who sustained what are believed to be life-threatening injuries. 

What they're saying:

"I know there's been a lot of violence lately, and we just want our community to know we're not going to give up, and we will continue to fight so that every person in this city can be safe," Chief O'Hara said at Monday's news conference following the second mass shooting.

The investigations into both shootings are ongoing. It’s unknown whether they are related.