Search warrant: Man confessed to Mankato officer he shot 5 people at 4th Precinct

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - On Wednesday afternoon, Minneapolis police released the names of four men currently in custody after a shooting near the 4th Precinct Monday night where suspects supposedly fired into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters, injuring five people.

According to a Hennepin County search warrant, one of the men now in custody called a high school classmate and Mankato police officer and confessed to shooting five people.

The four men will remain in custody until at least Monday while charging decisions are being made:

-Allen Lawrence Scarsella, 23
-Joseph Martin Backman, 27
-Nathan Wayne Gustavsson, 21
-Daniel Thomas Macey, 26

A Hennepin County District Court judge granted an extension until noon on Monday before the county attorney’s office has to make a charging decision. The investigation will continue over the Thanksgiving weekend, but no further developments will be released by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office until Monday.

Camo pants, jackets, guns seized in raid

When raiding Scarsella's residence, investigators looked for photos, phones, recording devices, weapons as well as "evidence of hate crimes or white supremacy paraphernalia."

According to the search warrant:

Several white men joined protests at the 4th Precinct at about 10:30 p.m., when protesters confronted them and “a large altercation” took place, and one of the men fired a handgun into the crowd. A Mankato police officer identified as "Officer Levin" called Minneapolis police and said Scarsella called him and told him he had shot five people, admitting what happened twice during their five-minute conversation.

Officer Levin and Scarsella were high school classmates, and Scarsella told him he and a group of friends had gone to the Black Lives Matter protest to livestream it. Officer Levin told police he knows Scarsella owns a .45 caliber weapon and lives in Bloomington, where he was taken into custody on Tuesday.

Police took iPhones, laptops, several camouflage jackets, a tactile vest, a pair of camouflage pants, ammunition, several gun cases, six pellet guns, among other items, from Scarsella's residence.

Monday night shooting

At 10:41 p.m. on Monday, Minneapolis police heard multiple shots fired at 1400 Morgan Avenue North. Several 911 calls came in reporting 5 people had been shot at 14th and Morgan, about a block from the precinct. Dozens of officers tended to victims, but the suspects fled.

"We got to 14th and Morgan and all you here is pop, pop, pop, pop," shooting victim Wesley Martin said. "My brother got shot in the stomach. And I got shot in the leg. Hit me right through."

Three victims were brought to North Memorial in a private vehicle with non-life-threatening injuries and two were transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries.

Clark was fatally shot by police on Nov. 15; demonstrators began camping out at the 4th Precinct that day, and haven't left.

Police initially had five men in custody after the shooting. On Tuesday, they arrested two men and two turned themselves in, but one was released after investigation revealed he wasn't in the area when the shooting took place. Police are working in conjunction with the FBI and are not seeking any more suspects.

Background

Clark was shot by police at 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15 outside of an apartment on the 1600 block of Plymouth Avenue N. Officers were responding to a request for assistance from paramedics who reported that Jamar Clark was disrupting their ability to aid an assault victim. Minneapolis police have said Clark was a suspect in the assault. At some point during an altercation that ensued between Clark and the officers, an officer discharged his weapon, striking Clark.