One shot dead near south Minneapolis encampment

A 33-year-old man was killed Monday afternoon in a shooting in south Minneapolis after a fight broke out at an encampment of unhoused people.

The encampment, on the 3300 block of 3rd Avenue S. in the city’s Central neighborhood, has since been cleared, police said. No arrests have been made.

“The loss of life resulting from someone resorting to gun violence during an altercation has impacted yet another neighborhood in Minneapolis,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a statement. “This senseless loss of life is a harsh reminder of the violence that continues to be all too common.”

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to identify the victim.

Aaron Johnson, a documentary filmmaker working on a project about Minneapolis’ unhoused encampments, said he spent time in the encampment Monday afternoon before the shooting. He said that group of people — about 40 to 60 — had been evicted from under Interstate 35 numerous times over the last month and a half. The area was eventually fenced off.

The group had nowhere else to turn, Johnson said, and ended up on private property on 3rd Avenue S. He said it is rare for homeless encampments to set up anywhere other than city property.

“There really is inadequate resources in the city,” he said. “There’s just not anything being provided.”

The encampment has since moved to another location just blocks away.

Monday morning, hours before the shooting, the encampment was discussed at length during a meeting organized by City Council Member Andrea Jenkins, who represents the area. In a statement Tuesday, Jenkins called the shooting “tragic and unfortunate” and said she was developing “strategies to address the issue humanely, constructively and sustainably.”

Johnson called the Monday morning discussion tense.

“It’s just a lot of pressure in this area,” he said.

“Most people have the same ultimate goal, which is that we all hate the fentanyl crisis,” he added. “It’s scary. Neighbors don’t want it. Community activists, we’re trying to pull people out of it but trying to keep them alive and going until they can. If we were all to work together and get on the same page and understand we all have the same end goal … I think we could finally reach that goal.”

It’s the second homicide reported in Minneapolis in the last four days. Thursday, a 26-year-old Inver Grove Heights man was shot and killed on the 2900 block of 12th Avenue S. after an altercation. Police provided no further details.

Minneapolis police reported 42 homicides in the city through Sunday, compared with 41 as of the same date in 2023.

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 the far-ranging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from the police murder of George Floyd.

Anyone with information about the shooting may submit anonymous tips to CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting CrimeStoppersMN.org.