Neighbors describe scene as Minneapolis police shoot man armed with AK-47, flak jacket

Neighbors woke to something loud coming from a south Minneapolis apartment building early Saturday.

“It sounded like a rapid noise, tap tap tap tap tap tap, really fast,” Kelly Meyer, who was jarred from her sleep about 4:30 a.m. by the disturbance across the street, said Sunday.

What Meyer heard was gunfire, followed by the sounds of police surrounding the building, evacuating residents and ultimately shooting the suspected gunman, authorities said.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man was wounded in the jaw and in stable condition as of Saturday. He reportedly was armed with an AK-47 and extra ammunition.

The officer who shot him and another who witnessed the shooting were placed on administrative leave while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates.

In a news conference Saturday morning, O’Hara described the shooting as a “terrifying incident for dozens of residents.”

Officers were told of a man walking around the 4000 block of Minnehaha Avenue with a shotgun around 10:50 p.m. Friday. They searched the area but could not find him. That changed hours later when dozens of 911 calls flooded the Police Department.

Callers reported shots fired inside the apartment building at 4:30 a.m. Saturday. They said they heard glass breaking and someone banging on doors.

Debra Sullivan, who has lived in the building for five years, said Sunday that she heard what sounded like pounding on the window of her basement apartment after 4 a.m. Then, she said, she heard what sounded like glass shattering.

Sullivan said she took refuge in her bathroom, which has no windows, until she was evacuated.

As authorities helped dozens from the building, a gun muzzle flash lit up a stairwell.

That’s where police said officers and SWAT members contained the shooter as he repeatedly fired the AK-47. At 5:33 a.m., an officer shot him with a rifle. He was disarmed and was taken to the HCMC.

The suspect’s identity was not yet released, but authorities described him as a 40-year-old resident of the building.

On Sunday morning, few signs of the previous day’s chaos remained, save for the plywood covering the front and back door of the apartment building. A window above the back door was shattered, and workers were cleaning up glass.

Bullet hole markers could be seen on two houses, one across the alley and another across the street, as well as on at least two cars in the apartment building’s parking lot.

Meyer, who lives across the street, said she realized she had awaken to gunshots only after she heard them again, looked outside and saw police vehicles and officers, guns drawn, standing behind them. She continued to hear loud sounds periodically.

Eventually, Meyer said, she watched police evacuate the residents. Some carried blankets, and some walked out with their hands up. “I’m still a little heartbroken over seeing that happen,” she said.

After watching ambulances arrive, she said, she was glad to hear later that only the suspect was injured.

The man’s motive is unclear, but police said he was heavily armed. They recovered a shotgun, an AK-47 rifle, a 45-caliber handgun and a backpack filled with ammo. O’Hara said the suspect wore a military-style flak jacket — body armor meant to hold bullets while protecting its user from gunfire.

“We had the bomb squad come out to check the backpack because I was concerned it could be a boobytrap for first responders,” O’Hara said at the news conference.

“It’s been an exhausting week for everybody in Minneapolis. [There’s been] a terrible amount of shootings and murders over the last week.”

Sullivan said the incident left her shaken all of Saturday. She said she’d like to know more about the circumstances in order to feel safe at home again. “If he lived here, they need to tell us more,” she said.

Brad Nelson, the owner of Level 10 Management, the company that manages the 24-unit apartment building, said residents were allowed to return later Saturday. He said he wasn’t aware of any previous calls to law enforcement in connection with the suspect and that property management is waiting on police to learn more about what happened.

On Saturday, local officials renewed calls for gun-control measures.

“This morning, [Minneapolis Police Department] officers received the type of call they never want to get. Thanks to their quick actions, neighbors and family members nearby are safe today,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement on X.

“Nobody needs an AK-47. Getting these weapons off our streets must be a priority at state capitols across the country.”

“I, like many of you, are exhausted and pained by this instance of yet another senseless act of gun violence, that people in our country are far too familiar with. With the news of the school shooting that took place in Winder, Georgia, at Apalachee High School, many are feeling especially raw,” Ward 12 City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said in a statement.

“It breaks my heart that our community had to experience this last night and into early morning. We must make every effort from the local level, state level, and federal level to address and end gun violence in our communities.”

Chowdhury said officials are “pushing for the [BCA] investigation to be as transparent as possible in releasing findings.”

There have been five homicides in the city since Friday, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune database, bringing the city’s total this year to 51. Minneapolis reported 45 homicides by this time last year.

Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this story.