By Liz Sawyer
Saturday September 8, 2018
Two men were shot to death and two people were injured by gunfire in separate incidents across Minneapolis on Friday night.
The slayings come just hours after a fatal shooting Friday morning in St. Paul, marking one of the Twin Cities' deadliest days all summer.
Officers were called to the 2000 block of Washington Avenue N. just before midnight on a report of shots fired. They found an adult male victim dead on the sidewalk outside Cliff N Norm's Bar.
A man and a woman with gunshot wounds were also taken to area hospitals. Both are expected to survive.
According to police dispatch audio, an off-duty officer reporting hearing at least 20 shots before cars were seen fleeing the scene.
Hours earlier, a man was killed behind a restaurant in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
The victim, a man in his 20s or early 30s, did not appear to be a University of Minnesota student, said those at the scene, although the shooting occurred close to the campus.
A crowd of about 50 people gathered behind a stretch of yellow police tape at the heart of the city’s Somali-American community.
Some of the victim’s family members and friends shouted angrily at police because his body remained at the scene during their investigation. Some also interrupted a TV news crew.
Mohamud Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community of Minnesota, decried yet another young person’s death at the hands of gun violence.
“It’s a moment for us to come together and solve some of the conflict that exists,” Noor said at the scene. “The safety of our students and community is something we all share a collective responsibility for.”
Shortly after the shooting, Hard Times Cafe co-owner Ari Donovan said the cafe would remain open Friday night. “I’d like everyone to be safe and at peace,” Donovan said.
Anyone with information in either case is asked to call Minneapolis police at 612-692-TIPS (8477).