Pokémon Go player, pregnant woman victims of Minneapolis weekend shootings, police say

No arrests have been made in weekend violence in Minneapolis.

November 20, 2018 at 4:42AM

A man apparently playing Pokémon Go was shot during a robbery attempt Friday, while a pregnant woman was struck by gunfire in a separate incident over the weekend, according to Minneapolis police.

Police responded about 6:45 p.m. Sunday to an apartment in the 2200 block of 4th Street N. after a woman called to say she had been shot, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Darcy Horn. The woman, who is pregnant, was taken to an area hospital for treatment of two gunshot wounds, but both she and her fetus are expected to survive, according to police.

"No arrests at this point, but we continue to develop information on this case," Horn said.

Police crime statistics show that the block where the shooting occurred had been the scene of at least two other gunfire incidents over the weekend: The first happened on Saturday, when police say a suspect fired at least two rounds at a vehicle that then left the scene; the second occurred about three hours before Sunday's shooting, when the area ShotSpotter network detected gunfire on the same block. Neither incident resulted in injuries, the statistics show.

On Friday evening, a 24-year-old gunshot victim walked into Hennepin County Medical Center, telling authorities that he was wounded during an attempted robbery.

The victim, whose injuries were considered noncritical and who was later released, reportedly said he had been walking in an unfamiliar area near Victory Memorial Drive and 36th Avenue N., while playing Pokémon Go, the popular augmented-reality app that allows users to "catch" Pokémon characters. At some point that night, he was confronted by someone who tried to rob him and who, after a short struggle, shot the victim once, police said.

Horn said police are still trying to determine where the alleged attack occurred.

The incident was preceded by another shooting in downtown Minneapolis early Friday morning that left three people wounded. Witnesses reported seeing two suspects on bicycles, at least one of whom was firing a gun, according to police scanner traffic.

No arrests have been announced in any of the shootings.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany

about the writer

about the writer

Libor Jany

Reporter

Libor Jany is the Minneapolis crime reporter for the Star Tribune. He joined the newspaper in 2013, after stints in newsrooms in Connecticut, New Jersey, California and Mississippi. He spent his first year working out of the paper's Washington County bureau, focusing on transportation and education issues, before moving to the Dakota County team.

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