At least one person was killed and two others were critically injured in a shooting that broke out in a Minneapolis parking lot on Wednesday night, police said.
“This is a very active and ongoing investigation, but we believe that there is at least one person who is a suspect who remains at large at this time,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told reporters at a press conference late Wednesday.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, officers were on the scene of a car crash at approximately 8:20 p.m. local time when they heard multiple gunshots a few blocks away in the McKinley neighborhood of Minnesota’s largest city. They responded and found a man and a woman, both suffering from gunshot wounds, in an SUV near the parking lot of Gold Star Foods, police said.
The man was transported to North Memorial Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, while the woman was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was listed in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Officers also located another man with life-threatening gunshot wounds lying on the street across from the parking lot. Despite life-saving measures, he was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will release the victim’s identity, along with the cause and nature of his death.
Police said preliminary information indicates two men on foot approached the man and the woman seated in the parked SUV. One of the men on foot walked around the vehicle to the driver’s side door, which was opened. The male driver then put the car in reverse, dragging the man with the open door, according to police.
At some point, gunshots were fired from at least the other man on foot. A gunshot detector system marked 23 rounds being fired from the Gold Star Foods parking lot at that time, police said.
The SUV got stuck on a snowbank and the man who was being dragged ran from the parking lot before collapsing on the street. The second man on foot fled the scene and remains on the run, according to police.
Police said at least two handguns were recovered from the scene — one from inside the vehicle and another on the street next to the collapsed man. Police believe a third firearm is in possession of the fleeing suspect.
So far, no arrests have been made.
“I think this just speaks volumes to the challenges that we are facing,” O’Hara told reporters. “This is a scene here, where — from what we know so far — there were at least three guns on the scene and it just shows the crisis that we are facing.”
“We are already living in a country that has more guns than people and there’s 10-20 million more guns entered into circulation each year,” the police chief added. “It’s an incredible challenge for us to be able to partner with all of our law enforcement partners and also partner with our community organizations to try and take as many guns out of the hands of people who should not have them before situations like this happen.”
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be submitted online at www.CrimeStoppersMN.org. All Tips are anonymous and anyone providing information leading to an arrest and conviction may be eligible for a financial reward, according to police.