Fatal south Minneapolis encampment shooting was self-defense, county attorney's office says

The man suspected of fatally shooting a 45-year-old man at a major south Minneapolis homeless encampment will not be charged with murder, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Friday.

Witnesses said the suspect fired at Tyrone J. Mohr after Mohr started a fight, county officials said.

Mohr was shot multiple times at the encampment known as Camp Nenookaasi, located near the intersection of E. 23rd Street and S. 13th Avenue. He was taken to HCMC and died soon afterward.

Police arrested the suspect near the encampment; a gun was found nearby, police spokesman Aaron Rose said.

The County Attorney's Office said it believes the shooter was acting in self-defense and that available evidence would not support a murder charge.

Witnesses said Mohr attacked the man and aimed a gun at him, the attorney's office said. The office said the shooter was within his rights to use deadly force based on "reasonable belief that he was in immediate danger of great bodily harm or death."

The man was released from the Hennepin County jail, online records show. However, he faces misdemeanor charges in Brooklyn Park for allegedly violating a domestic abuse no-contact order and giving police a fake name.

The Star Tribune generally does not name suspects who are not charged.

The early investigation indicated the shooting took place inside a tent at the fenced-in encampment, Rose said.

Joseph Kerr, who goes by Joker, said he saw people run toward the tent to break up an argument. He said about six shots then rang out.

A second man arrested at the encampment was charged Friday with possessing a gun after being convicted of a violent crime. According to the charges, Dale Martin Jr., 37, had handled the gun used to killed Mohr one day earlier. He remained in Hennepin County jail on Friday.