2 killed, at least 5 others injured in downtown Minneapolis shooting, suspected shooter also dead
Two people are dead and at least five others were injured, including three officers, after a shooting near 15 East Grant Street Wednesday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, according to police. The suspected shooter is also dead.
Officers were dispatched to the scene at 4:36 p.m., and arrived within two minutes from the first 911 call to find one person shot at a high-rise apartment building. Police entered the building, following the sound of gunshots, according to Minneapolis Police Public Information Officer Garrett Parten.
Officers “encountered a haze that significantly limited their visibility” when they reached an upper-level floor, Parten said. Three of the officers were injured in the shooting, and one of them was in surgery Wednesday evening after being shot twice in the stomach. One officer was shot in the leg, and the other officer was being evaluated for a non-life-threatening injury.
Four other people were taken to a nearby hospital, where one person died, according to city officials. Another victim was fatally shot at the scene.
The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told WCCO. Multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News that the suspect is 35-year-old Carlton Neal Johnson. Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Bill Peterson said during a news conference Wednesday night that police were familiar with the suspect, though he did not identify him.
Officials say four additional officers experienced “adverse effects after being exposed to an unknown airborne substance,” and two others were injured when a squad car crashed on Nicollet Avenue outside the Target while responding to the shooting.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says that all officers involved are “expected to make a full recovery.”
The scene, at the intersection of Nicollet and Grant, drew an extraordinary show of force from law enforcement agencies well beyond the Minneapolis Police Department.
WCCO 
The focus of the response centered on an apartment complex on Grant Street, where officers armed with long guns kept watch on the building for an extended period. Two heavily armored SWAT vehicles were staged at the intersection, and ambulances lined both the immediate area and the block leading toward downtown.
Officers and vehicles arrived to assist from St. Louis Park, Edina, the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Patrol, transit police and sheriff’s deputies from surrounding jurisdictions. St. Paul’s ATF field division also reported that special agents responded to the scene. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is also investigating.
FBI Director Kash Patel said he is aware of the shooting and will offer “any and all resources necessary to assist local authorities.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called the shooting “horrifying.”
“My deepest thoughts are with those killed and hurt, including the police officers injured. I pray for their quick recovery. I fully support responding law enforcement and my office will help in all the ways possible,” Ellison said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey applauded police for their “heroic” response at a press conference late Wednesday evening.
“They rescued victims, brought people to safety, helped get approximately four people to the hospital, all while getting shot at themselves. We’re all standing with the victims and families impacted by this senseless act,” Frey said.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office is working with the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to gather more information on the incident, and encourages anyone with information to contact law enforcement or the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
This is at least the second deadly shooting inside the apartment building in just under a year. A man shot and killed two other men there late last September. That shooter was arrested, and police believe all three men involved knew each other.
Suspect had been evicted earlier in the day
While officials do not know a motive for the shooting, sources say the suspect had been evicted from his apartment earlier Wednesday.
Court documents show the suspect’s eviction came after a series of threats involving guns. In the first incident, on June 19, the suspect made verbal threats about using a gun and showed a gun to a security officer.
Days later, he allegedly threatened a resident with a gun and walked around the block with a firearm visible.
The suspect has a past conviction for domestic violence.
Witnesses describe hearing gunshots, seeing aftermath
Abdiwakil Mohamed, from south Minneapolis, said he heard the gunshots as he was driving down La Salle Avenue. He said he heard three gunshots that sounded like they came from a rifle, and noticed that a police officer had been shot in their car. The officer then slammed on the gas and hit another car, he added.
The shooter, who he said had fired from a high vantage point in a nearby building, continued to shoot people on the ground, Mohamed said. He saw an officer pull off their bulletproof vest to see if they had been shot in the chest.
From there, police came “everywhere, they came from every single side,” he said.
Shawn Mosby, whose daughter was helping a friend move into the apartment complex, said the residents inside were hearing “banging, shooting.”
“I guess it’s been insane. I’ve been on the phone with her, just making sure they barricaded the door, hiding in the bathroom. It’s been really crazy,” Mosby said.
Chris Miller, who lives at the apartment complex, says he has heard about a tenant making violent threats in recent weeks. He managed to escape his unit during the incident, only to find carnage in the building.
“I could hear sirens and police and got in the elevator and went down and witnessed three different bodies lying down with all kinds of blood,” Miller said.
Miller believes the gunman targeted a woman he knew as well as building employees.