Expand / Collapse search
☰

Native leaders hold prayer vigil after recent violence in Minneapolis

By
Published  May 1, 2025 3:03pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 9
Minneapolis homicides: Prayer vigil held

Minneapolis homicides: Prayer vigil held

After a series of homicides in south Minneapolis this week, that authorities suspect may be linked to gang violence, community leaders in Minneapolis' Native community held a prayer vigil.

The Brief

    • A vigil was held Thursday morning by the Native American community after a series of homicides in Minneapolis. 
    • The vigil was held at Cedar Field. 
    • The vigil comes after five were killed and six were injured in 24 hours in a series of shootings. 

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - After a series of homicides in south Minneapolis this week that authorities suspect may be linked to gang violence, community leaders in Minneapolis' Native American community held a prayer vigil.

Prayer vigil

What we know:

Community members gathered at Cedar Field in Minneapolis on Thursday morning to mourn the Native American lives lost in acts of violence this week.

The All Nations Indian Church also put out a statement saying it was open Thursday to grieve the loss.

"Our community is in mourning," the statement reads. "Four lives taken, all within 24 hours. We are hurting. We are grieving. And we are standing together. Stand with us as we say NO to gun violence. Join us in prayer, in healing, and in protecting our relatives. Gun violence is not just statistics—it’s our relatives. Our children deserve to play without fear. Our elders deserve peace. Our communities deserve healing.

"All Nations Indian Church will be open all day Thursday, May 1. The sacred fire will be burning. Come to pray, sit, or find comfort in community. Gun violence has no place here."

What they're saying:

May is American Indian Month. Celebrations were set for Thursday to mark the kickoff of the month, including a parade and powwow. But those events were canceled due to the shootings and replaced with the vigil.

At the vigil, community leaders lamented the situation.

"Usually… I would be celebrating the beginning of our month,," one speaker said. "But we're not. We're here today."

"We come together at those times when we need each other," she added. "We take care of one another and that's what we need to do today."

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara spoke with the media at the vigil, saying officers were still working to make arrests in the shootings.

Recent violence in Minneapolis

The backstory:

Five people were killed and six injured over the course of 24 hours. Police have said at least two of the shootings, a mass shooting that left three dead on 25th Avenue South late Tuesday night and a deadly shooting Wednesday afternoon off Cedar Avenue near Hiawatha, were linked. City leaders said the Wednesday shooting may have been retaliation for the previous night's violence.

It's unclear if all the shootings are linked to gang violence, but police said it appears the deadly shootings were targeted.

Crime and Public SafetySewardVentura Village