Officials ID both people killed in mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis over weekend

Officials on Monday identified both people who were killed in a mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis over the weekend that also left three other people wounded.

Benjamin Hezekiah Haggray, 20, and Lunden Marcel Woodberry, 21, each died from the gunfire that erupted shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday near N. 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, according to officials.

Woodberry, who is from Minneapolis, was shot multiple times, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Haggray, of Ludowic in southeastern Georgia, was shot in the abdomen, the Examiner’s Office said.

Two girls, ages 16 and 17, and a 23-year-old woman sustained noncritical injuries. Officials have yet to release their identities.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of riot in connection with the shooting, but police are continuing to investigate his role in the incident and charges have yet to be filed. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.

Police said they recovered a gun and other evidence from the scene.

Tonya Haggray said she brought Benjamin and the rest of her children to the Twin Cities from Georgia in 2005 “in search of a better life,” then he moved back to Georgia before he returned to Minneapolis almost two months ago and moved in with a sister downtown.

“He knew how I felt about guns,” Tonya Haggray said. “I lost a nephew to guns on the 28th of August. I told him, ‘Every time a fight break out, run for your life. Run for help.’ He was a very good kid. He never got into trouble.”

She said her son wanted to work in security, then go overseas and join an older brother doing contract work in Kuwait.

“‘Mom, I’m going to make you proud,’” she recalled him saying.

Emergency dispatch audio from the shooting disclosed that officers struggled to control crowds of people, leading them to request backup.

“Another victim on 5th,” an officer said after a mention of 100 people near the scene. “I need more cops over here now.”

In support of the Police Department, which remains short of its desired number of officers, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office deployed extra uniformed and non-uniformed deputies in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday night.

The violence came a week after an SUV drove into a crowd after a fight at the same downtown intersection. Latalia Anjolie Margalli is charged with one count of second-degree murder and five counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the crash that killed De’Miaya Broome and injured several others shortly after 12:20 a.m. on Sept. 14.

At least two other shootings also were reported early Saturday in Minneapolis. Police have announced no arrests in either case.

A man was wounded around 12:48 a.m. after a shooting in the 3000 block of Lyndale Avenue S. Officers gave the man medical aid until he was transported to HCMC with non-life-threatening injuries.

Another shooting, reported at 2:46 a.m. in the 5400 block of Nicollet Avenue, injured two. Officers found evidence of gunfire on the scene and were told that two men were taken to HCMC in a private vehicle. Both men had non-life-threatening injuries.

There have been five homicides in Minneapolis since Sept. 14, bringing the year’s total to 57. There were 47 homicides in the city at this time in 2023, according to a Star Tribune database.