Minneapolis council member's brother stabbed, critically wounded

A man who was stabbed and critically wounded outside a south Minneapolis corner store Thursday is the brother of Sixth Ward City Council Member Jamal Osman.

The man who is seen in a surveillance video attacking the council member's brother was shot during the encounter and taken to a hospital.

In a statement Friday, Osman said that his brother, Liban, became a victim of the "senseless violence" that has affected "too many families in the ward."

"God willing, my brother will live," the statement read. "Hopefully his wounds will heal and he will be able to resume a close to normal life. But there are so many wounds that cannot heal and people who lose their lives to violence like he experienced."

Just before 4:30 p.m., police and paramedics were called to the 1900 block of Chicago Avenue on a report of a stabbing where they found the two men with critical injuries.

The men, one of whom had stab wounds to the head and the other who had been shot in the leg, were taken to a hospital.

A Minneapolis police spokesman said Friday that the two men were being treated at the hospital, but no one has been arrested.

"We know who's involved and the investigators are trying to determine what transpired," said the spokesman, officer Garrett Parten. "We were working to figure out who was the aggressor and what the altercation was about."

Within hours of the incident, several videos from bystanders and security cameras began to circulate.

One clip, obtained by the Star Tribune, shows Liban Osman getting ready to pay at the store counter when a man in a long-sleeved black shirt suddenly punches him and places him in a headlock. The two men begin to struggle inside the store, moving in and out of the frame, as several people try to intervene.

Another video from outside the store shows a man, believed to be Liban Osman, being chased by the other man, who is now shirtless.

In the meantime, a crowd started to gather, and several bystanders intervened when the original assailant stood over Liban Osman and slashed at him with a knife. Several men held the assailant down while Osman managed to free himself and run away, the video shows.

They're still restraining the man when, less than a minute later, the group suddenly scatters as if a shot had been fired.

The original assailant is shown hobbling away in the video, which doesn't capture the alleged shooter's face.

In another video, recorded on a witness' cellphone, someone can be heard urging people to call 911 moments before a gunshot rings out.

In his statement, Council Member Osman thanked the bystanders who came to his brother's aid, as well as paramedics, police officers and hospital staff.

Osman represents the city's Sixth Ward, the heart of its East African community, after taking over last fall for Abdi Warsame, who resigned to lead the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.

Before winning the seat in a special election, he worked as a resident services coordinator for Commonbond Communities, an affordable housing nonprofit that manages buildings across the Twin Cities.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064

Twitter: @StribJany