Spike in violence tied to Minneapolis’ homeless encampments draws divergent strategies

As law enforcement and policymakers struggle to find answers amid a spike in violence connected to Minneapolis’ numerous homeless encampments, Mayor Jacob Frey is vowing to take firm actions while the City Council is charting its own course about how to cope with a problem that has dogged the city for years.

Less than a full day after visiting a murder scene tied to one of the numerous encampments on the South Side, Frey vowed Thursday to accelerate the destruction of the encampments and called out the fentanyl crisis as a major factor.

In a 16-hour span Wednesday, three shootings at or near the encampments left two people dead and two others wounded. Police have jailed the man they say is responsible for each of the shootings, and they are building their case in hopes of charging him soon.

Frey said in a statement that he went with Police Chief Brian O’Hara to the scene of one of Wednesday’s homicides, and “I saw the victim lying in an alleyway with children playing nearby. Thankfully, our police worked hard to arrest a suspect, but our community cannot be continuously subjected to the violence we’ve seen all too often lately.”

Frey pointed out that 22% of shootings in the South Side’s Third Police Precinct have occurred within 500 feet of an encampment.

The mayor added that he has directed city staff “to expedite closing encampments and take steps to prevent them from forming in the first place.”

And while he pledged the city will continue to do what it can to reverse the prevalence of homelessness, he also said that “the underlying problem is fentanyl — both the trafficking and the use. I’ve directed our police chief to collaborate with law-enforcement partners to get this deadly drug off our streets and focus on arresting those responsible for distributing it.”

The city’s policy toward homeless encampments has been a festering political wound for years, as progressive council members have accused Frey of inhumane tactics to clear camps and are exploring ways to legalize them.

Meanwhile, Frey, who retains widespread powers to clear encampments, has increasingly felt frustrated by those accusations, as well as the prospect that the council’s progressive majority might enact ordinances to hamstring his authority.

Earlier Thursday, the City Council approved three measures related to housing and homelessness: a new set of reporting requirements intended to add transparency to camp removals, including where individuals land after being dispersed; a $1.5 million rehabilitation grant to help a downtown shelter make needed repairs; and an extension of the pre-eviction period for renters from 14 days to 30 days.

Frey sees the council’s actions as “trying to prevent the closure of encampments through advocacy, activism, and soon-to-come policy changes. This is irresponsible.”

City Council Member Robin Wonsley pushed back in response to Frey’s characterization, saying the measures were needed “in the absence of humane and effective leadership by the administration.”

The latest shootings have only have escalated frustrations surrounding the encampments. Residents have expressed concerns about sanitation and safety, while service providers and advocates have argued the city lacks shelter space, affordable housing and other resources.

One of the two people shot to death was identified Thursday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office as Roland Scott Littleowl, 20, who was shot in the head Wednesday in an alley in the 2500 block of 17th Avenue S. The shooting, the first of the three within 16 hours, was reported at 4:40 a.m. and also left a man in his 30s critically wounded, police said.

The second shooting unfolded four blocks away, in the 2500 block of Bloomington Avenue S., at 4:15 p.m. O’Hara said a man in his 30s was standing by a garage in an alley when a group of people passed by. One in the group approached the man and shot him in the head.

In the third incident, a man suffered a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound at 7:20 p.m. in the 2300 block of 17th Avenue S. The suspect was arrested 15 minutes later near E. 26th Street and 17th Avenue S., according to police.

Also Thursday, charges were filed stemming from a mass shooting at an encampment on July 15 under the Hiawatha Avenue overpass in south Minneapolis that left a woman dead and seven other people wounded. Half-brothers Dustin Lee Barth Jr., 19, and Steven Alonzo Pruitt Jr., 23, were charged with first-degree riot that resulted in death.

Star Tribune staff writers David Orrick, Jeff Day and Elliot Hughes contributed to this report.