Minneapolis man pleads guilty to riot in connection with fatal 2022 shooting

Emily Baude KSTP

Devord Allen (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)

A Minneapolis man pleaded guilty to rioting on Wednesday in connection with a shooting outside a bar in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood that left several people hurt and one man dead.

Devord Allen, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting first-degree riot while armed with a weapon in exchange for the dismissal of other counts and 95 months in prison earlier this week, according to a petition filed in Hennepin County Court.

Allen was initially charged in October 2022 with one count of first-degree riot and two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, records show.

The charges stem from a fight during a private event that escalated to gunfire at Bullwinkle’s just before 1 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2022.

Witnesses and surveillance video indicated that two customers were asked to leave but refused, leading to a physical confrontation. A short time later, shots were fired inside the bar, and several people then started leaving.

The criminal complaint states that the two men who were asked to leave stumbled out of the doorway and then ran away. Meanwhile, 34-year-old Cortez Maurice Crumble fell in the doorway after getting shot. Crumble later died from his injuries.

Court documents add that, as the two men ran away, four other men — three of whom had guns — then ran out of the bar and started firing shots at the two men. At that time, other unknown people across the street started firing back.

Police say Allen was one of the three men who fired shots at the men who were asked to leave. Allen was on federal parole at the time, court documents state, and later admitted to selling the gun he used to someone else.

Allen suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds during the shooting and was treated at a hospital. At least one other person also suffered injuries in the shooting, and a Metro Transit bus was struck by gunfire, too.

Allen is set to be sentenced on April 25, just before 9 a.m.