Fatal shooting in north Minneapolis marks 90th homicide this year

Minneapolis reached 90 homicides in 2021 after a fatal shooting in north Minneapolis Wednesday night.

According to Minneapolis Police Department Public Information Officer Garrett Parten, officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation at 7:40 p.m. at the Winner Gas Station on the 600 block of West Broadway in North Minneapolis. Calls to 911 reported a man down.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers found a man with a gunshot wound in the gas station parking lot. They rendered medical aid until he was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died, Parten said.

Early investigation indicates that there was an "exchange" in the parking lot, gunfire erupted from inside a vehicle and the man fell. The vehicle left "very quickly," according to Parten. It’s unclear whether the shooter and victim knew one another.

"I can tell you that I honestly believe that as the Minneapolis Police do everything we can to promote and create a safe community alongside of community members and community groups that we are making a difference," Parten said. "I think this number would be higher if we weren’t putting out the efforts to bring down this kind of violence."

This is the 90th homicide in Minneapolis this year, swiftly approaching the record of 97 homicides in the city in 1995.

It’s also not the first violence seen at the gas station this year.

Four people were shot and injured in early October nearby the station. A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to murder after his involvement in a fatal shooting that investigators said was related to gang violence in August at Winner Gas.

No arrests have been made in relation to Wednesday’s shooting and a homicide investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 and reference case number 21-276051, or submit information online.