Brawl ends in fatal shooting at Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street

Two people were killed and three others, including teenagers, were injured in a fatal shooting following another brawl near Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street North, Minneapolis police said.

Police said they were trying to break up several altercations at the intersection around 1:56 a.m. Saturday when gunshots were heard.

When officers went to the area where the gunshot wounds occurred, they found that five people had been injured by gunfire.

All five were taken to hospital, with life-saving measures attempted on two people, but police said a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old man later died of their injuries in hospital.

The other three victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Two of the injured were girls aged 16 and 17, and the third was a 23-year-old woman.

One person was arrested for rioting, but no charges have been filed against the suspect behind the shooting. Police said investigators recovered a firearm at the scene Saturday morning.

“Last night, the lives of five families were changed and our hearts go out to them,” said Deputy Police Chief Katie Blackwell. “It is extremely tragic what we are seeing across the country, that these confrontations escalate so quickly into violence and particularly gun violence.”

The shooting occurred a week after 16-year-old De'Miaya Broome was killed at the same intersection when 22-year-old Latalia Anjolie Margalli allegedly drove into a crowd of people involved in a fight. At this time, the two incidents are not believed to be related.

While investigators search for suspects in the shooting, Blackwell said MPD will have additional officers on patrol in the area of ​​Fifth and Hennepin starting Saturday night. There will also be assistance from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and a local violence interrupter group known as 21 Days of Peace will continue to be on the scene.

“So we can intervene before it happens, and we usually succeed in bringing people together and ending the disaster,” explains Rev. Jerry McAfee, founder of the local chapter of 21 Days of Peace.

Although on Saturday morning “it happened way too quickly for that,” said Rev. McAfee.

McAfee said the consecutive deadly Saturday mornings of clashes among young people had been exhausting and disheartening, and many families had lost loved ones far too soon.

“It's very exhausting, but right now we have no choice but to stop. We have to keep going. We have to keep going,” McAfee said. “We just want to help. We want people to live.”

Blackwell said police are trying to determine why there has been an increase in violence in the area.

“I'm not sure why this is happening,” Blackwell said. “We are planning meetings with licensors to find out why certain companies are here.”

Blackwell said the investigation is ongoing and they hope to arrest a suspect “soon.”