Eight wounded in shooting on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis

A blitz of gunfire on a south Minneapolis street wounded eight people Sunday evening. Police said none of those hurt had life-threatening injuries.

Just before 6 p.m., as families picnicked and children played in nearby Peavey Field Park, police said dozens of rounds were fired on Franklin Avenue between Elliot and Chicago avenues.

Police Chief Brian O'Hara said two male suspects ran north on Elliot Avenue after the shooting. O'Hara said police did not have any indication that the shooting was random, and described the block as a hot spot.

Six of the wounded were boys in their late teens, with five younger than 18 and one who was 18 years old, O'Hara said at a news conference Sunday evening.

Two other people in their 40s — a man and a woman — also were wounded.

After the shooting, a crowd gathered around the victims, O'Hara said, and Minneapolis police called on park police and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office to move onlookers away from the scene as investigators worked.

O'Hara said police recovered 41 rounds of three different calibers, including the large .223-caliber rounds that often are used in guns like the AR-15.

A house on the corner of Elliot and Franklin was hit twice, but no one inside was hurt.

Kayseh Magan, who is running in the City Council's Sixth Ward, said he and his uncle were driving through the intersection when they heard the pops of gunfire. They ducked and drove away as the shots kept coming.

"It was so many rounds in quick succession," Magan said. "You could look at the rearview and see all these people running toward you away from the gunfire."