MPD: 2 arrested in connection with fatal shooting of 15-year-old girl
Minneapolis police report they have arrested two teens in connection to the deadly shooting of a 15-year-old girl on Saturday.
MPD said the two teenage males, ages 16 and 17, were arrested on a juvenile offense of aiding an offender.
Investigators call the case open and active as they try to figure out what led up to the shooting.
In social media posts, loved ones identified the victim as 15-year-old Tyra Terry.
The family tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they are planning a vigil for 7 p.m. Monday to remember her at the scene of the shooting. There are candles, flowers and balloons set outside the home where the teen was shot back on Saturday afternoon.
Minneapolis police were called to the 3400 block of Logan Avenue North around 1:50 pm on the report of a shooting inside the home.
The 15-year-old girl was found with a single gunshot wound in the home, according to authorities.
The teen was rushed to North Memorial Hospital, where she died.
“I am deeply concerned by the shooting death of a 15-year-old girl,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Whether this is a terrible accident highlighting the need for the proper care and storage of guns, or this is somehow connected to the growing violence among teenagers, the loss of a 15-year-old girl is an unacceptable tragedy.”
This marks the second weekend in a row that kids were shot in Minneapolis.
Early on August 18, four kids, all under the age of 15, were shot in a stolen Kia, critically hurting one.
“It breaks my heart, and we’re the adults, we protect,” Sondra Samuels, CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) in Minneapolis, said.
Specializing in connecting with families, Samuels’ organization works to make sure children have brighter futures.
“Let’s plug them in, especially those who early on are concerned about these things,” Samuels said about families getting involved before their children may end up on the wrong path.
While NAZ partners with many community groups and organizations, Samuels admits that some crime trends happening right now carry more weight than they are able to lift.
“They wanted to put everything back onto community, well the community can’t handle the levels that we’re seeing right now,” Samuels said, adding: “I keep saying we don’t have a child problem, we have an adult problem.”
That includes adults in leadership positions, too—not just family members. She stresses that support from local and state leaders will be key in curbing kids’ involvement in crime.
“A lot of funding to have residential, off the street, major intervention, in terms of what our kids need most right now [that’s] trauma-informed, is the only thing that’s going to work right now,” Samuels said.
Samuels says she will advocate for the implementation of ‘teen group homes’ for those involved in the most serious crimes.