Law enforcement kills man in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood

EDITOR'S NOTE: Previous versions of this article falsely reported that the man who was shot and killed, later identified as Winston Boogie Smith, was a murder suspect. That information was initially sourced from law enforcement scanner audio. However, the Star Tribune did not confirm it independently and therefore failed to meet our standards for publication. We sincerely apologize for this error and we are currently reviewing our reporting processes and policies to ensure this does not happen in the future.

Law enforcement officers shot and killed a man during an attempted arrest Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood, sources said.

The U.S. Marshals Service said members of its task force had closed in on the man, suspected of being a felon in possession of a gun. The suspect, who was in a parked car, "failed to comply and produced a handgun, resulting in task force members firing upon the subject," the agency said in its statement.

Medics declared the man dead at the scene. A woman in the suspect's car was injured by shattered glass.

The shooting occurred atop a parking ramp at W. Lake Street and S. Fremont Avenue. The Marshals Service said many agencies were involved in the original operation, including officers from the Hennepin, Anoka and Ramsey County sheriff's offices and the federal Department of Homeland Security. Minneapolis police played no role.

The warrant for the man's arrest was issued in Minnesota, said Marshals Service spokeswoman Nikki Credic-Barrett.

The personnel involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, Credic-Barrett said.

Word of the shooting quickly drew a crowd in a city that has been on edge about deaths involving law enforcement since last year's killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The windows of some nearby storefronts remain covered with plywood, a reminder of the at-times violent civil unrest that followed Floyd's death.

A Minneapolis police spokesman said that numerous buildings were vandalized overnight after the shooting and that some were looted,

The gunfire erupted on the fifth floor of the parking ramp, which is across the street from Stella's Fish Cafe, according to emergency dispatches, which aired the first reports at 2:08 p.m. "One adult male down. One female detained," a first responder reported to dispatch, adding that no officers had been injured.

A bartender who works nearby said several patrons witnessed the shooting. "There were about one or two police cars on the top of the ramp [and then] about five more," he said. "When [all the cars] got to the top, there was eight to 12 shots. [Officers] grabbed the girl … and put her in handcuffs."

An aerial view of the ramp's top level showed a silver SUV with a shattered back window surrounded by other vehicles near a pop-up tent of the type used to shield a crime scene.

A woman who lives across the street from the parking garage said she heard more than a dozen gunshots, followed by a pause, then more gunshots. She asked that her name not be used out of concerns for her safety.

"It's just too much," she said of learning from her son that it was a fatal shooting by law enforcement.

Many of those gathered outside the police tape near Lake Street and S. Girard Avenue came simply to watch investigators from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives work. But some chanted insults at Minneapolis police, whose officers were providing perimeter support.

Members of the citizen crime prevention group We Push for Peace mingled with onlookers and those taunting law enforcement, advocating for patience and peace. Others, from the crime-prevention group A Mother's Love, also circulated in the crowd.

Many who were chanting anti-police slogans knew little except that officers had killed a man, said Pharoah Merritt of We Push for Peace. "We understand the anger and ire when we see these police shootings," he said. "We don't know anything."

Stella's hastily closed after allowing diners already inside to finish their meals. Magers & Quinn, a nearby bookstore, also said it would close early.

As darkness fell, a few dozen protesters remained. When law enforcement finally cleared the scene about 10 p.m., protesters followed them with taunts. Some also reblocked Lake Street, which had been closed by law enforcement all afternoon.

Staff photographer Mark Vancleave contributed to this report.