For the third day in a row, the pop-pop-pop of gunfire punctuated the midday calm near a north Minneapolis strip mall, this time leaving a young man dead and detectives searching for answers.
Man fatally shot near busy street on Minneapolis' North Side
The victim's body was found outside a Little Caesar's pizza restaurant.
November 18, 2016 at 4:39AM
It remains unclear what precipitated the shooting just before 11 a.m. Thursday, said police spokesman Corey Schmidt, adding that detectives were investigating the possibility that the man was shot somewhere else and dumped outside of a Little Caesar's restaurant near the corner of W. Broadway and Bryant Avenue N. He died at the scene.
Family members and friends identified the victim as Larry Flowers; his age was not clear.
Schmidt added that it was too early to tell whether the killing was related to the previous two shootings near the Hawthorn Crossings strip mall, or whether it was tied to an ongoing gang rivalry in the area. It was the city's 35th homicide of the year.
There had been no arrests late Thursday.
Schmidt added that police did not have a description of the suspect or suspects, but that investigators plan to review surveillance video from nearby businesses or Metro Transit buses in the area.
"There's a good chance that there will be some video that could be pulled," Schmidt told reporters at the scene.
It was at least the third shooting in as many days, all within a few blocks of each other. On Wednesday afternoon, a 31-year-old Brooklyn Center man was struck by gunfire less than 200 yards west of where Thursday's victim was found. The previous day, a gunshot victim stumbled into the Taco Bell in the 400 block of Broadway, after being wounded in a nearby shooting.
Neither incident resulted in an arrest.
Anyone with information about Thursday's homicide is encouraged call the Minneapolis anonymous tip line at 612-692-8477 (TIPS) or text their tip in to 847411 (TIP411). Enter MPD, a space, and then the information.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064
