Arrest warrant issued in slaying of Minneapolis activist Tyrone Williams

The warrant remains under seal and no suspect has been publicly named.

April 21, 2018 at 2:05AM
Tyrone Williams (Facebook) ORG XMIT: 4XuV-BFUH-yy4jPt-TuB
Tyrone Williams (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a suspect in the slaying of a prominent Minneapolis community activist who was gunned down a week after delivering a fiery address at a meeting on police-community relations.

The suspect, whose identity hasn't been released, is wanted in the shooting death of Tyrone Williams, a 33-year-old father of four. Williams was the brother of former City Council candidate Raeisha Williams.

The warrant was issued under seal in Hennepin County District Court, according to Minneapolis police, who didn't provide further details. It wasn't immediately clear Friday whether the suspect had been captured.

Tyrone Williams, known to friends as Ty, was found April 3 lying on the sidewalk near the corner of 8th and Elwood avenues N. He had been shot in the chest and the lower body. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Several vehicles were seen leaving the scene shortly after gunfire broke out, according to police. Police have not commented publicly about a possible motive.

In social media posts and news interviews following his death, Williams' friends and relatives pledged to carry on his social activism in seeking police accountability and other causes.

The shooting drew outrage from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who wrote on his Facebook page that Williams' death would force the city to "confront our past in order to move toward a better future for all."

In one of his last public appearances a week before his death, Williams interrupted a community forum to accuse city leaders of inaction in addressing police violence in black neighborhoods.

"It's tiring, it's old, we need more action," he said, according to a video of the interaction that was posted on North News' Facebook page. "I don't wanna waste no more time."

No one had been booked into the Hennepin County jail on murder charges Friday, according to a review of records.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter: @StribJany

about the writer

about the writer

Libor Jany

Reporter

Libor Jany is the Minneapolis crime reporter for the Star Tribune. He joined the newspaper in 2013, after stints in newsrooms in Connecticut, New Jersey, California and Mississippi. He spent his first year working out of the paper's Washington County bureau, focusing on transportation and education issues, before moving to the Dakota County team.

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