Officials ID man who is among 3 recent homicide victims near Lake Street intersections

Officials on Wednesday identified the man who was shot to death earlier this week in south Minneapolis and is one of 50 homicide victims in the city so far this year.

Rodney Bernard Cooper, 52, of Brooklyn Park was shot multiple times about 3 a.m. Monday near S. 13th Avenue and E. Lake Street. He died at the scene, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Police have announced no arrests in connection with Cooper’s death.

Officers dispatched to the scene found Cooper on the sidewalk and critically wounded, police said.

As law enforcement secured the immediate area, officers dealt with an “uncooperative and hostile crowd,” a police statement read. Paramedics and the Fire Department gave Cooper emergency medical attention once officers were able to disperse the crowd, the statement continued.

Cooper’s killing is among four homicides in the city since Friday, according to a Star Tribune database. Three of them occurred near E. Lake Street intersections.

This year’s tally of 50 homicides in Minneapolis compares with 45 at this time last year. There were 35 homicides in the city as of this date in 2019, the most recent year before the pandemic.

Homicides generally have fallen locally and nationally after 2021, but remain elevated compared to 2019 in many U.S. cities, including Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The nation saw a historic 30% increase in homicides in 2020, which criminologists attribute to far-ranging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from the police murder of George Floyd.

Strar Tribune staff writer Elliot Hughes contributed to this report.