Minneapolis, MN
Burglar strikes Minneapolis’ historic 19 Bar amid reconstruction, owner says
MINNEAPOLIS — The 19 Bar, the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Minnesota, was targeted by a burglar overnight Tuesday amid the push to rebuild it following a devastating fire.
Owner Gary Lee Hallberg tells WCCO the thief took some tools, a backpack and batteries with chargers from the historic Loring Park bar.
He says the security system has yet to be reinstalled since the bar was destroyed on March 23.
The setback comes just days after Hallberg announced the bar wouldn’t reopen as planned on New Year’s Eve due to delays in construction and inspections.
In August, Hallberg filed a $2.8 million lawsuit against a recycling company whose garbage truck struck the electrical pole next to the bar, which then fell on the building and ignited the fire. Hallberg says the fire occurred just weeks before he was set to close a deal on selling the bar, which was subsequently canceled.
While the recycling company admits fault for the accident, it refutes Hallberg’s claims that the bar was a total loss.
The 19 Bar is one of the oldest operating LGBTQ+ bars in the country, first opening its doors to customers in 1952.
Hallberg says he hopes to reopen by early February.
Kirsten Mitchell will bring us inside The 19 Bar to see the reconstruction effort firsthand Tuesday on WCCO 4 News at 9.
Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota weather: Cold as the sun finally returns Friday
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Expect a bright, sunny but cold day on Friday with temperatures in the teens.
Friday’s forecast in Minnesota
What to expect: Friday will bring clear skies and abundant sunshine across much of the state. Temperatures will be in the low to mid-teens for central and southern Minnesota, with highs in the single digits for northern regions.
The Twin Cities metro daytime high is 14 degrees, about 10 degrees below average for this time of year. Though northwest breezes at 10-15 mph will likely make it feel far colder.
The overnight hours are quiet and cold with subzero temperatures across much of Minnesota and lows around 0 degrees in the metro area.
Sunny but cold weekend
What’s next: Expect a seasonably cold weekend with plenty of sunshine on Saturday for most of the state, though cloud coverage will increase for southern and southwestern Minnesota. Sunday may see a few additional clouds with highs in the lower to mid-teens.
Looking ahead, temperatures remain fairly steady in the teens with a mix of sunshine and clouds.
Here’s a look at your seven-day forecast:
Minneapolis, MN
St. Paul murder charge: Minneapolis man shot with kids in car wasn’t intended target
A Minneapolis man who was fatally shot near a busy intersection in St. Paul while two young children were in his vehicle was not the intended target, according to charges filed Thursday.
Andre L. Mitchell, 26, was killed in a daytime shooting in November. His 2-month-old child was in the backseat, as was his 5-year-old sister. Mitchell’s little sister later told investigators that the car’s windows broke during the shooting and she covered the baby with her body while shots rang out.
The baby’s carseat was filled with broken window glass and there was a bullet hole in it, but the infant wasn’t harmed.
Officers were called to Aurora Avenue just off Dale Street at 1:35 p.m. on Nov. 22 on a report of a shooting outside an apartment building. Police found Mitchell near a Mazda’s front passenger seat with gunshot wounds to his upper torso. He died as St. Paul Fire Department medics were taking him to Regions Hospital.
A 26-year-old man who’d been in the Mazda with Mitchell said they were waiting to pick up the mother of Mitchell’s child, who was working as a personal care attendant, when a black sport-utility vehicle drove past. The SUV’s rear passenger door opened and the man heard multiple gunshots. There were at least 13 bullet holes in the driver’s side of the Mazda and Mitchell was shot seven times.
The man with Mitchell said neither he nor Mitchell were from the area, and he didn’t know of Mitchell having any enemies.
Earlier confrontation
Officers were originally called to the Aurora Avenue apartment building about an hour before the shooting. A 23-year-old woman reported “that at least five women associated with the father of her child were making threats outside her apartment door,” that one of the women pointed a gun at the door and others had mace and knives, the complaint said.
She said she had let a cousin of her child’s father stay at her apartment, but the cousin became disrespectful and she kicked the cousin out. As a result, she said she’d been threatened.
Neither Mitchell nor the man in the Mazda with him were the father of the woman’s child or his cousin.
Security camera footage showed a Mitsubishi Outlander, which appeared to have five people inside, stopped five feet from the Mazda. Four people fired handguns from the Mitsubishi toward the Mazda, before driving away. Police found the Mitsubishi is owned by a financing company and is associated with Steven Rawls Jr., 25, of Minneapolis, the complaint said.
Rawls is a brother of the 23-year-old woman who reported the initial problem. Phone location records showed Rawls’ phone was in the area of the homicide at the time of the shooting, the complaint said.
A group of people got into the Mitsubishi, driven by Rawls, “and shot up a car full of people not involved in the earlier incident,” killing Mitchell, the complaint said.
Arrested at hospital
Police arrested Rawls on Tuesday after he arrived at Hennepin County Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his hand. He told police he owned the Mitsubishi, but said he loaned it out. He said he did not go to St. Paul on Nov. 22.
When investigators asked Rawls if he recalled his sister having a problem on Nov. 22, he said he never left “Minneapolis that day as he was praying,” the complaint said. “When pressed and told that his statement wasn’t true, Steven Rawls asked for a lawyer and the interview was ended.”
Rawls is charged with aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder. He is due to make his first court appearance in the case Friday; an attorney for him wasn’t listed in the court file Thursday.
The investigation into Mitchell’s homicide is ongoing.
Minneapolis, MN
Murder charges: Minneapolis man wildly fires gun after fight, accidentally kills friend
A Minneapolis man who wildly shot his gun into a crowded intersection after a fight accidentally shot his friend in the head and killed him, according to criminal charges filed in Hennepin County District Court last week.
Jermaine Sylvester Watkins, 50, was charged with second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the shooting death of William Demone Walker, 46, of Denver. The shooting happened in the 1700 block of 25th Avenue N. at 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2024, following an after-bar party in north Minneapolis.
Watkins made a first court appearance on Thursday, and his bail was set at $1 million. He was on supervised release with the Minnesota Department of Corrections at the time of the alleged murder. His probation stemmed from a conviction in 2014 on two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of kidnapping.
According to court documents:
Surveillance video showed Watkins, Walker and several other people attended a late-night party in the 2400 block of Logan Avenue N. Watkins was wearing a Halloween mask that illuminated his face. Several partygoers later spilled out into the street with at least a dozen people in the intersection of 25th and Logan avenues, and a fight broke out.
Surveillance video showed a man dressed similarly to Watkins with an illuminated mask draped over the back of his neck, running down 25th Avenue, firing backward while swinging his arm. A bullet struck Walker, who was standing near the driver’s side of his vehicle, in the head. The video showed the shooter firing 10 shots, and 10 shell casings were found at the scene.
Shortly after Walker was shot, a woman ran up and climbed in the passenger seat of his car. She told the shooter to stop firing and get in the car. Shortly after she appears to realize Walker was shot. She ran over to him and said, “Frog, you shot him.”
Investigators spoke with Walker’s mother who told them “Frog” was a nickname for Watkins and that he was an associate of her son. Another witness who knew Watkins identified him in several still images from the surveillance videos the night of the party.
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