Minneapolis, MN
After his child was shot in a stolen vehicle, Minneapolis father asks community to work together
MINNEAPOLIS — A Twin Cities father is asking for community members to work together to make sure what happened to his child never happens again.
His 12-year-old is home from the hospital on Wednesday night they were shot in a stolen car with three other children in north Minneapolis last weekend.
“They ain’t no bad kids. They just misguided nobodies listening to them, but now that they got our attention what are we going to do with it?” the father said.
He added it’s time for the community to focus on the well-being of youth. He wants to speak out, but is concerned about the safety of his family. Because whoever shot at the car has not been arrested, WCCO is not naming or showing his face.
“For me it hit home. I go and talk to kids all the time but when it hit home, it’s like, I was so unconscious to my kid focusing on other peoples kid,” he said.
He sees his child getting in that car as a cry for attention in an area where there is no community center, no programming, no skating rink or arcade.
He says kids know and talk about the fact that there are no consequences for their actions. Because of that, he says he and other parents have been asking for help.
“The families been saying what can we do and all y’all saying is it comes from the house, it comes from the inside. You can have a kid whose family is perfect, you can get whatever you want when you want it, they still got to go to that bus stop they still got to go to that park,” he said.
He is calling on all parents to work together and hopes Zion Baptist Church’s Wellness Collaborative can help.
Marquese Armstrong, the deacon of Zion Baptist Church, believes what’s needed to change the direction of young people lies within community.
“Members of the wellness collaborative are here, we have mentorship program, we have life coaching, we have therapy we have rights of passage programs for not just the children but for the parents as well,” Armstrong explained.
This parent hopes the village steps up and helps provide what’s needed to help kids be kids again.
The father says the 12-year-old was supposed to be spending the night at a friend’s house.
He believes neighbors shouldn’t be afraid to speak up about kids behaving badly, and other parents should accept that help.
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The scene of the shooting on Thomas Avenue North. (FOX 9)
A man was fatally shot after an argument early Tuesday morning in Minneapolis.
Fatal shooting on Thomas Avenue North
What we know:
According to Minneapolis police, around 2:30 a.m., officers responded to the 1600 block of Thomas Avenue North on reports of a shooting inside a home.
At the scene, officers found a man with several gunshot wounds. The man was taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said.
Authorities say that an argument led to gunfire, and the suspect fled the scene before police arrived.
A 17-year-old was arrested in connection to the shooting, and police say they are investigating “connections” between the teen arrested and other violent crimes in Minneapolis this year.
What they’re saying:
“Another family has forever been impacted by senseless violence,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Settling disputes with a firearm is completely unacceptable, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure justice in this case. Every available tool in the juvenile justice system must be used to protect young people who pose a danger to themselves as well as the community.”
What we don’t know:
Police did not specify the gender of the 17-year-old. And the other crimes the teen could be connected to were not specified.
The man who was fatally shot has not been identified.
The Source: A press release from the Minneapolis Police Department.
A 41-year-old was found guilty in the murders of Christopher Martell Washington, Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., and Samantha Jo Moss at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
According to a criminal complaint, Earl Bennett rode an e-bike to a tent in the encampment in October 2024, asked to see one of the victims inside and began shooting shortly after being allowed inside. Surveillance video showed him leaving the tent and riding away on his e-bike.
Washington and Lemons were declared dead at the scene, and Moss died at the hospital a week later.
Woman dies nearly a week after triple shooting at Minneapolis encampment; suspect charged
Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16 in this case, the attorney’s office said.
Other cases
Bennett is also a defendant in two other cases.
He was shot by law enforcement after pointing a gun at officers in St. Paul days after the murders.
Officers later learned Bennett had shot and critically injured a man earlier in the evening at a sober living home on the 3500 block of Columbus Avenue South.
The gun Bennett pointed at officers in St. Paul matched the casings found at both the encampment and sober living home shootings.
SPPD releases bodycam of officers shooting and injuring man charged in encampment triple homicide | Man seriously injured in Minneapolis shooting, suspect not in custody
These cases both remain open.
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