Two men shot during Minneapolis crime spree; police searching for suspects
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police say someone shot a man inside his home while attempting to rob a nearby garage during a Tuesday morning crime spree.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says the crime spree involved six different incidents, including robberies, burglaries and a carjacking. All are believed to have been carried out by the same group of people and took place between 5 and 6:50 a.m.
The first incident was a burglary and a shooting that took place on the 4100 block of 25th Avenue South around 5 a.m. Surveillance camera footage shows three men getting out of a white sedan in a residential alley before attempting to kick in the door to a garage. Two of the men are seen pointing guns toward a home across the alleyway before one of them fires their gun, striking a 54-year-old man who had been looking out the second-floor window. O'Hara says the victim was shot in the face, but his injuries are not considered life-threatening.
Denise Ward says she heard a commotion upstairs but wasn't prepared for what she would see next.
"He found a paper towel put it on his face and came downstairs that's when I saw — OMG you got shot," Ward said.
The bullet struck her partner, Boyd Hansen, in the face. He was rushed to HCMC. Tuesday night, he was out of surgery.
Ward says she's grateful he will be okay but is concerned by the randomness of the shooting.
Shortly after Hansen was shot, a carjacking happened on the 5100 block of 34th Avenue South. Two additional burglaries were reported in the area. Police say an aggravated robbery and shooting happened on the 2300 block of 32nd Street East, where a 25-year-old man was injured.
The final incident of the crime spree was a shots fired call, where O'Hara says the suspects were seen exiting a white sedan and shooting a gun.
Officers have since recovered the car connected to the crimes — a white Mazda sedan — as well as the vehicle they had stolen — a gray Mazda SUV.
Minneapolis police are working tirelessly to piece together the details of the crime and are urging the public to come forward with any information that could help identify the suspects in the surveillance footage. They believe three to four men were involved.
"What we need is we need people from the public who recognize those three individuals — any of them — to come forward and give us information, or if they've seen that car around — while we have recovered it," O'Hara said. "We do need help in identifying those three people. We will find them, but it'll be a whole lot faster if the public helps us."
Tips can be submitted anonymously to CrimeStoppers online or by calling 800-222-8477.
