Family identifies young father as victim killed in weekend shooting; city works on violence plan

Family and friends on social media said the man who lost his life in a shooting in Downtown Minneapolis was Cody C. Pollard.

Pollard is described by those close to him as a father with two young children, engaged and a popular barber in the Twin Cities, according to a family GoFundMe page.

"We knew him as a family, there's personal loss attached to it, there's community loss, everyone is deeply saddened,” said Sasha Cotton, director of the city of Minneapolis Office of Violence Prevention. “The hard part is trying to figure out what we do to make sure it doesn't continue to happen because obviously our community is struggling.”

Cody's brother Troy shared his thoughts about his sibling to KSTP.

"He was just wise beyond his years," he said. "Just a beautiful soul and inspiration to so many people."

"Cody took pride in being the best father, son, brother, and fiancé he could be. After Cody began having children he would introduce himself as 'the family man.' Cody was a pillar in his community and touched many near and far. Cody will be truly missed," his family said in a statement Monday.

Cotton’s office is working with community groups, church leaders and those with deep connections to those on the street to find a way to peace and come up with a plan this week.

1 dead, 11 injured after overnight shooting in Uptown Minneapolis

"The Office of Violence Prevention, we think of ourselves as an incubator, we don't have all the answers but we do believe we have strong relationships with community partners who are the best experts," Cotton said.

"I think that it was a dream, but it wasn't, it was a nightmare," said community activist K.G. Wilson, who was in Uptown with other activists trying to keep the peace that night.

The mass shooting in Uptown and then in north Minneapolis Sunday night that claimed the life of a 17-year-old boy has left the veteran activist searching for answers.

17-year-old killed in shooting in north Minneapolis

"To those who are called into violence, those who are angry, those who are planning violence against others, I beg of you to think that over twice, and not allow innocent children or our seniors to be caught in your crossfire,” Wilson said.

Minneapolis Police have made no arrests in the deadly shooting that killed one man and wounded 11 other individuals in the Uptown case.

“The FBI in Minneapolis remains in close contact with the Minneapolis Police Department and continues to work on what tools and other assets we may have that can provide the greatest assistance to the department during this time,” said FBI spokesperson Kevin Smith.

“We can certainly bring intelligence and investigative resources to the table as a force multiplier now and will work with MPD on additional needs in the coming days.”

Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender says she's been meeting with business owners in the Uptown neighborhood to address their concerns. 

"The violence we are seeing, particularly gun violence in our city is horrifying and unacceptable," Bender said.

She adds to stop the surge in violence, it can't be a blanket response from city halls.

"If we swarmed Uptown with police officers, there would still be vacant parking lots, businesses that are causing problems, we need to address those route causes; those are very specific to that one corner of the city, we need a plan for these specific areas."

Minneapolis City Council member Phillipe Cunningham provided the following statement on the current state of Minneapolis, and the Northside specifically: 

"The gun violence is out of control across this city right now, but we're especially feeling it here on the Northside. It is unacceptable and our community will not tolerate it. We want every person in our city to live in peace. I want folks to know I am continuing to work diligently with the Office of Violence Prevention to come up with an urgent safety plan to respond to the violence and try to get ahead of it with additional preventative measures. We will be taking action on a myriad of steps soon, so stay connected to find out how to get plugged in. It's going to take ALL of us to stop the violence. We will get through this together, Northsiders."

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey provided a statement on the recent violence happening in Minneapolis:

"As a city we must rise up with one voice and state unequivocally this violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

"Chief Arradondo has my full support in leading our city's response. He has requested and expects to receive resources from other jurisdictions to help address the recent uptick in gun violence. And our police department continues to play a critical role in protecting and serving communities in our city – whether it's responding to dangerous activity or administering Narcan. 

"At the same time, our team at the city is actively engaged with community leaders from dozens of organizations, working directly and proactively to prevent and disrupt gun violence – and we're going to continue providing that support for those community-led solutions to violence."

Editor's note: This story previously stated Pollard was shot in Uptown Minneapolis, per police information. Tuesday, Minneapolis Police said Pollard was actually shot in Downtown Minneapolis. This story has since been updated.