Security guard shot while working with north Minneapolis violence prevention group
Minneapolis police are searching for the gunman who shot and wounded an armed security guard working with a community organization Monday evening.
It happened near 36th and Penn Avenues North, the same intersection where 6-year-old Aniya Allen was killed by a stray bullet nearly four years ago. No one has ever been arrested for that crime.
Several days a week, members of 21 Days of Peace set up camp at 36th and Penn — one of the most violent corners in North Minneapolis.
"We've been able to sometimes get people into treatment and just sometimes just counsel them, and one of the highlights is when we are able to feed them," Rev. Jerry McAfee said.
McAfee says that on Monday evening, one of his security guards was able to save a life.
"A lady went down, [he] hit her with Narcan twice. She is up, she is getting in the ambulance," McAfee said.
McAfee says that the same guard came under fire.
"As they were leaving, getting ready to leave, somebody came out the alley and started shooting at him. And some kind of way he got some shots fired back at whoever it was," McAfee said.
The guard was hit in the shoulder and grazed in the neck. He is expected to survive.
Police say a child's bedroom nearby had damage from the exchange of gunfire.
Minneapolis Ward 4 City Councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw says she is working to address the true issues in the area.
"There is a large amount of people on 35th and 36th and Penn that are newly released and/or a lot of people out of homeless encampments and folks struggling with addiction," she said. "It's a lot of addiction, so when you see folks that are kind of saturated in one area with addiction, you see dealers. It's how they make their money. It's no different than what we saw in encampment."
Police say they value the work of 21 Days of Peace, who are helping because of a shortage of Minneapolis police officers.
"The reality is we are asking community-based organizations like this to step in in lieu of the police and to go to these locations that have had concentrations of violence, and I think this shows this is a risk," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.
Vetaw is working with law enforcement from the city, county and state on a plan for spring and summer to deal with the issues of addiction and violence.
