Investigation underway after man found dead at Minnehaha Park homeless encampment

The Minneapolis Police Department says it has started a death investigation after a man was found dead Sunday afternoon at a homeless encampment at Minnehaha Park.

According to police spokesman John Elder, officers from the Minneapolis Park Police and Minneapolis Police Department went to the encampment on the 4900 block of South Minnehaha Park Drive around 12:18 p.m. to check on the welfare of a person inside one of the tents.

Officers found a deceased man inside who had "experienced obvious trauma," Elder said.

The Minneapolis Police Department is leading the investigation, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s identity and cause and nature of death.

As officers were arriving at the scene, several people ran away. Elder said the people who fled the area might have thought the officers were there to disband the encampment, which he said was not the case.

Editor’s note: Police issued a correction to state that the deceased is a man, not a woman, as originally reported.