Two charged in crossfire shooting of downtown Mpls. pub patron

June 6, 2017 at 2:48AM

A St. Paul teen and an Inver Grove Heights man have been charged in connection with the May 13 shooting of a customer at the Lyon's Pub in downtown Minneapolis.

Emmanuel Galen Johnson, 16, faces charges of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and possessing a fireman while under 18 years old. Prosecutors have moved to have him certified as an adult, according to the Hennepin County attorney's office. Alize Jovon Cleaves, of Inver Grove Heights, has been charged with one count of aiding an offender — accomplice after the fact.

Police responded to Lyon's Pub about 8 p.m. on a report of a diner being shot as he was eating at a sidewalk table. After learning that the man was shot in the leg, witnesses told police there were two groups of young men involved in the shooting, with the shots being fired by a man in a gray sweatshirt, according to the criminal charges.

Witnesses and surveillance videos from businesses and Metro Transit indicated that one group of men had been walking south on Hennepin Avenue when they passed some men in a bus shelter. All the men began arguing and flashing gang hand signs. Witnesses and video taken from the light rail shows Johnson had on a gray sweatshirt followed by Cleaves wearing it. Someone can be heard saying "take that off." Cleaves took it off and put it on an empty seat, where the police recovered it, along with a loaded gun in the front pocket, with the caliber matching the discharged casing, according to the charges.

BRANDON STAHL

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