The deadly downtown Minneapolis shooting that ended with three people dead and six people hurt Wednesday started as a custody exchange, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) says.
Investigators currently believe that the shooter, 35-year-old Carlton Johnson II, died in an exchange of gunfire with police at Shoreline Plaza, formerly known as Loring Towers.
Here’s what else we know so far about the deadly incident. Download the KSTP app below for additional updates as we confirm more details.
Timeline
The BCA says Johnson was outside of Shoreline Plaza, located just off Nicollet Avenue and East Grant Street, for a custody exchange with his child and the child’s mother at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
During that exchange, Johnson apparently shot the child’s mother, then went inside the apartment building and shot two employees — a woman, who was seriously hurt, and a man, who suffered less serious injuries, according to the BCA. The child ran away to safety.
From there, the BCA says Johnson went up to the building’s ninth floor, where he rented an apartment and lived alone. On that floor, he shot two residents.
Superintendent Evans urged the community to address what he feels is a growing problem causing too much devastation.
“The role that domestic violence continues to play in mass casualty incidents and other situations where people are shot and killed continues to be a problem that we need to continue to encounter and figure out as a society,” Evans said. “We have multiple people shot here in a situation where domestic violence led up to this point.”
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Investigators are still working to determine why Johnson shot who he did and if the victims were targeted. However, 5 INVESTIGATES learned that Johnson was challenging an eviction order from Loring Towers.
MPD Response
Videos from the area show Minneapolis police responding in full force, with SWAT and several squad cars responding within minutes of the first reports of a shooting. Officers from multiple other agencies and cities also responded.
Minneapolis Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson said police records show at least 157 officers were assigned to the shooting.
The first officers entered the apartment building at around 4:39 p.m., according to the Minneapolis Police Department, and saw multiple victims on the ground in addition to hearing gunfire from the upper levels of the building.
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said police had a police squad en route to Shoreline Plaza 44 seconds after the first 911 call, and officers entered the building 1 minute and 42 seconds after that first call.
As officers followed the sound of gunfire to upper floors, visibility from a haze became limited, and two officers were shot while another was injured. The BCA says it is still investigating what caused that haze, although it may have been from damage to something. Frey later suggested it may have been from an exploded fire extinguisher.
Victim IDs
The BCA says the two residents shot by Johnson on the ninth floor of the apartment building were 63-year-old Dale Henry Spry and 61-year-old Muse Abdi Afrah. Both men died, the BCA says, one at a hospital and the other at the scene.
The mother of Johnson’s child and the two wounded building employees weren’t identified and are recovering from their injuries. No specifics regarding their conditions have been shared at this time.
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The two MPD officers injured by gunfire were identified as Joseph Michnowski, a five-year veteran of MPD, and Yahye Ahmed, a nearly two-year MPD veteran. A third officer was hurt unrelated to the shooting and isn’t being identified at this time.
Ahmed was released from the hospital on Thursday, Frey says. Peterson said the third officer was released Wednesday night after being treated for a glass cut related to breaking a squad window. Michnowski remained hospitalized Thursday afternoon.
The BCA says Liban Mohamed Ibrahim, who has been a Minneapolis police officer for two years, discharged his firearm during the incident, as did Ahmed. Investigators are still determining whether any other officers fired their weapons. Ibrahim seems to be one of the MPD officers who shared their accounts of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting ahead of the one-year anniversary last month.
Additional NotesThe BCA says surveillance cameras at Shoreline Plaza caught the entire incident. Investigators are currently reviewing that video.Carlton used a handgun during the shooting, although investigators haven’t yet confirmed if it was modified in any way.Police and the BCA say Carlton had a valid permit to carry a gun.Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty confirmed that police responded to a past call involving Johnson on June 25 that prosecutors flagged for a possible Extreme Risk Protection Order that would’ve forced him to surrender his weapons. Ultimately, prosecutors found insufficient evidence for that or any charges related to the June 25 incident.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, several resources are available to offer help. For immediate help, contact:
More than 12 million people just in the U.S. are affected by domestic violence every year, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
The organizations listed above can help connect victims to resources like safe shelter, advocacy, legal help and support groups.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline also offers tips for identifying abuse and supporting victims of abuse. CLICK HERE to see those.
Other organizations that can help include:
Minnesota also has a list of many other resources for victims of crimes that can be found HERE.
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