Man fatally shot over weekend was awaiting trial stemming from a shooting at a Minneapolis bar

A man who was fatally shot over the weekend and left on a north Minneapolis sidewalk was scheduled to go on trial next month in connection with a shooting at a bar early this year.

Omari Kwakou Thomas, 45, of Brooklyn Center was shot in the abdomen about 1:10 a.m. Sunday in the 3200 block of N. Penn Avenue, and died shortly after 7:30 a.m. that same day at Robbinsdale’s North Memorial Health Hospital, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday.

ShotSpotter technology detected gunfire, which lead officers to find Thomas on the sidewalk with life-threatening wounds, police said.

The shooter was gone by the time police arrived, and officials have announced no arrests as of Tuesday afternoon.

Thomas was one of two people charged with assault and illegal gun possession stemming from a man being shot in the abdomen Jan. 7 at Cliff N Norm’s Bar on N. Washington Avenue. The charges pointed to a man who was with Thomas at the bar as the shooter. That suspect is not identified in the criminal complaint.

Thomas posted bail on Jan. 30 and was scheduled to go on trial on Aug. 26.

Police spokesman Trevor Folke said late Tuesday afternoon that “currently, there is no public information available that indicates a possible link” between Thomas’ death and the shooting at the bar, which allegedly grew out of a dispute over a woman being touched sexually.

Sunday’s fatal shooting was one in a string of violent, and at-times deadly, crimes in the city since Thursday that sent Police Chief Brian O’Hara to other law enforcement agencies for patrol assistance.

Three homicides, numerous nonfatal shootings and a carjacking that left the victim with critical gunshot wounds have overwhelmed his understaffed department, the chief said.

A Star Tribune database shows there have been at least 42 homicides so far this year in Minneapolis, compared with 36 at this time last year. That’s a year-over-year increase of about 16½% and is 75% higher than at this point in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.