Authorities ID the 2 men shot to death outside Minneapolis nightclub, where 8 others wounded

Authorities on Monday identified two men fatally shot over the weekend outside a downtown Minneapolis nightclub, where eight others were hit by gunfire.

Christopher R. Jones Jr., 24, of Brooklyn Park, and Charlie B. Johnson, 21, of Golden Valley, were both shot outside the Monarch club in the 300 block of N. 1st Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police spokesman John Elder said Monday that one of the two who were fatally shot outside the nightclub was one of the shooters, though he did not identify that person as investigators continued "putting all the moving pieces together in what was a very chaotic situation." However, Johnson's family has described him as an "innocent bystander."

Among the others who were wounded, all of them adults, one was in critical condition as of midday Monday, Elder said.

Police said shots erupted at bar closing time when two men got into a "verbal confrontation" on the crowded sidewalk.

A Bloomington man, 23, was arrested Saturday and booked on suspicion of murder. Charges are expected to be filed by midday Tuesday. The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects before they have been charged.

The casualty-laden bloodshed accounted for two of four people slain in the city over the weekend, prompting police to bring in outside help in the effort to quell the violence.

There have been 32 homicides in the city so far this year, following an especially deadly 2020, when 84 people were slain. The 2019 total was 48. As of the weekend, more than 190 people have been wounded or killed in shootings, compared with about 75 at this point in 2020, according to Police Department data.

The call for additional law enforcement also comes in the wake of three children ages 11 and younger who were hit by gunfire in recent weeks, killing one and seriously injuring two. No arrests have been made in any of those cases.

Johnson went out with friends on Friday night to celebrate their graduation the next day from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Johnson and his friends were walking home when they got hit by stray gunfire, his father, Greg Johnson, said Sunday.

The medical examiner also disclosed on Monday the identity of a man who was fatally shot Friday in north Minneapolis.

Jarvis L. Haynes, 27, of Brooklyn Park, was hit by gunfire in a thigh and died that day at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Police have announced no arrests in that shooting.

At 8:40 p.m., officers responded to a ShotSpotter notification near N. 26th and Logan avenues, receiving a report of a vehicle crash at the same spot as they headed there, according to police spokesman John Elder.

They found Haynes in a vehicle and suffering from several gunshot wounds. A second man suffering from a gunshot wound arrived at North Memorial by private vehicle. Police believe he was also shot at 26th and Logan.

A third person involved in the crash, a woman, suffered medical distress and was taken to a hospital, police said. She had not been shot, Elder said.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482