The Minneapolis Police Chief on Monday addressed violence downtown after back-to-back weekends saw deadly incidents near the same intersection.

On Saturday, Benjamin Haggray, 20, and Lunden Woodberry, 21, were fatally shot and three others injured at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and 5th Street N.

The prior Saturday, in the same spot, an SUV drove into a crowd of people, killing a 16-year-old De’Miaya Broome and hurting five others.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said MPD has seen an at least couple months long trend of young people gathering near this intersection around midnight, which is past the county curfew for many of them who are under 18.

Chief O’Hara said the behavior among large groups of teenagers and young adults seems to escalate at bar close as hundreds of people hit the street to head home.

“We are deeply concerned with what we have seen downtown, in that it involves a congregation of juveniles, teenagers that are coming downtown, that are too young to drink, that are congregating in the area of Fifth and Hennepin, getting involved in fights and other activities,” he said.

“It definitely seems like it’s at its worst as everyone is also kind of emptying from the bars.”

O’Hara said police are starting to get an idea of what those other “activities” are that could be attracting the repeat young crowds, which is “either buying food from some of the food vendors, and at times we are told alcohol, so we’re gonna have to look into that further.”

Curfew enforcement will be a major part of MPD’s strategy to quell the violence going forward, O’Hara added.

“Rather than just taking them to a space downtown where they can be immediately released, see if we’re able to partner with some of our community-based organizations to do more for that young person, to try and engage better than just simply picking them up and having them immediately released,” he expanded.

“That’s the conversations we’re going to be in this week.”

Both incidents remain under investigation, and the chief couldn’t confirm on Monday whether the two are connected in any way.

“I don’t have any specific evidence to do that. However, it’s just, it’s too much of a coincidence that we’re having these problems with young people at this specific corner and then, one week later, we have a similar instance of violence again with teenagers,” O’Hara said.

Extra MPD officers will continue to patrol around the intersection for the foreseeable weekends, and those patrols will soon include mounted police on horseback, the chief said.

“…which is very helpful, because they’re much higher above in the crowds. And part of the confusion over this last weekend was the crowd is so dense, officers were physically present at times when fights were going on, and the shooting was close by, but there’s just so many people, they couldn’t tell who’s doing what,” he explained.

Violence interrupters including Minneapolis-based 21 Days of Peace and Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies will also be downtown, according to O’Hara.

A map of all reported shots fired incidents in Minneapolis can be found HERE.

Police have arrested one person related to this weekend for riot, but have not ruled out other possible shooting suspects.