North Side on edge after 2 fatal shootings

Two men were shot to death in a bloody weekend in north Minneapolis, one as the result of a fatal encounter outside a bar that has seen two other killings in the past year and a half.

The bar manager and a neighborhood pastor say they are frustrated and outraged, calling upon city leaders and neighbors, respectively, to influence change in their often violence-plagued neighborhoods.

Tyrone Sain, 34, of Brooklyn Center was gunned down shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday at the 4th St. Saloon at 328 W. Broadway, just west of the bridge over Interstate 94.

And a man slain in the 1600 block of Thomas Avenue N. early Saturday was identified Sunday as Tyrone Kenyatta Brown, 23.

Police officers found Sain lying in the rear parking lot of the bar with a gunshot wound to his torso early Sunday.

He was taken to North Memorial Medial Center in Robbinsdale, where he died a short time later.

There have been no arrests in either case, police spokesman Jesse Garcia said this morning.

"We are unhappy, we're livid about it. We're tired of hearing the same old stuff all the time, and since our church is located in the heart of the area, we feel just as responsible," said Bishop Richard Howell Jr., pastor of Shiloh Temple International Ministries, whose headquarters are in the neighborhood of where both homicides occurred. "We're not gonna sit back and just watch people getting killed. We're not gonna do it. We're making our voices known."

Howell said members of his church recently finished a door-to-door survey of 400 families in the area. Eighty percent, he said, were "unchurched" and are invited to a task force meeting tonight to discuss problems and opportunities. The focus isn't so much religion, he said, as it is about being a good neighbor."

Long-term problems

The shooting is another incident in a spate of trouble for the North Side bar. On May 12, 2007, Jeremy J. Harris was charged in the fatal shooting of Marvin L. Easter there after a fight inside spilled out onto the street. He was shot and wounded by an off-duty Minneapolis police officer who was working security at the bar. Harris was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving time in St. Cloud prison.

On Feb. 26, 2007, Antonio Tedell Ford, 32, of Crystal, was shot and killed as he walked through a nearby parking lot following a dispute at the bar. Marvel G. Williams, 19, and David Jerome Bryant, 25, were charged with second-degree murder in his death. Both are serving time at St. Cloud.

Both deaths prompted scrutiny from City Council members, who encouraged the installation of security cameras on W. Broadway in hopes of reducing street crime and violence in areas near the bar.

Last summer, 4th St. Saloon's general manager, Mike Oker, defended his bar's security measures, which had included installing a metal detector at the door and providing parking lot security. On Sunday, he said his security measures, which also include a close relationship with Minneapolis police, remain top-notch. He emphasized that Sunday morning's shooting had nothing to do with his bar, and that it was the result on a long-standing feud between the victim and apparent suspect.

"It really frustrates me a lot, and I've accentuated a lot that we need more help for the police up here," Oker said, referring to the city's north side. "You have a shooting Uptown or a shooting downtown, and the force doubles and special task forces are set up. But as long as this violence is contained on the north side, it seems no one does anything."

While a piece of yellow police tape blew across the street on the west side of the bar Sunday, the east parking lot was teeming with residents celebrating during a motorcycle rally with beer and burgers. It was a peaceful affair in a close-knit community, Oker said, something for which he wishes his bar were publicized more often.

"Look, if this was an IHOP [restaurant] it would've happened at an IHOP. It's a product of a lot of stuff that could be stopped if they'd take it seriously," Oker said, referring to city leaders. "What's it gonna take? For a cop to get shot up here? We don't want that."

Police who responded to a call to the area shortly after 2:30 a.m. Saturday found him lying in the street.

Searching for answers

"We realize a lot of these issues the neighborhood is facing are a big elephant, but first and foremost what we must address is the value system," said Howell, the pastor. "For instance, taking a human life. Do these people respect life or not?"

Anyone with information on either case is asked to call the Police Department at 612-692-TIPS.