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Doctor who grew up in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis wants to open an opioid clinic

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Doctor who grew up in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis wants to open an opioid clinic


Plans for opioid treatment center in Cedar-Riverside neighborhood

Dr. Sadik Ali is passionate about helping those fighting opioid addiction.

“For me, it’s very personal,” he said. “I have family members who’ve been affected by this. I have relatives that have died from an overdose. That’s when it hit home for me.”

Ali, an internal medicine specialist who works in Mankato but grew up in Cedar-Riverside, wants to open what he calls the ‘Model C’ center on a property along 20th Avenue South.

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“We call this ground zero,” he declared. “This is the epidemic; the epicenter of substance use disorder in our community. It’s tearing it apart. It’s an existential crisis.”

Ali says he’s investing his life savings into the project.

Its estimated cost — more than $34 million.

The goal is to open a 31-bed detox unit; a clinic that would dispense medication for opioid use disorder for 300 people initially — and later twice that. There would also be a counseling facility that would place about 16 people on an abstinence recovery track.

“I feel there’s not enough we can do on the prevention side to educate people just how deadly and how bad this problem is,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told Ali during a Zoom meeting. “You’re talking about trying to help people that are affected in these groups trying to keep people alive. That keeps getting worse each year.”

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City data shows 244 opioid-related deaths in 2022.

That’s about triple the number from 2017.

O’Hara says treatment, not arrests, is the solution for those fighting addiction.

“For people who are addicted and who are suffering through all this, their answer to their problem is not going to be in handcuffs,” O’Hara noted. “We’re not going to be able to arrest our way out of people who are addicted.”

He told Ali he should engage with local elected officials and the public to keep them updated about the project.

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Ali says he’s trying to get funding from grants and other sources, but says for now, money for the center is coming out of his own pocket.

He notes he’s still waiting for the required licenses from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the state and federal regulators.

Ali says he hopes to open the first stages of the clinic sometime in May.

“This is something that wakes me up every morning and gives me a purpose,” he declared. “It’s about saving lives and making a difference in our community.”

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Minneapolis, MN

MN weather: Bright with highs in the 50s Monday

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MN weather: Bright with highs in the 50s Monday


Expect a pleasant Monday with light breezes, filtered sunshine, and highs in the 50s. Temperatures cool into the 40s this week with chances for rain and snow. FOX 9 meteorologist Cody Matz has the full forecast.

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Minneapolis, MN

Murder charges filed in 2020 shooting that took life of young mother

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Murder charges filed in 2020 shooting that took life of young mother


A man who admitted to firing the shots that killed an 18-year-old mother in south Minneapolis back in May 2020 is charged with murder. 

The criminal complaint names Malcom Chan Johnson, 33, of Minneapolis, as a suspect in the fatal shooting after he told police he didn’t know there was a woman in the car he was shooting at.

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The shooting claimed the life of Arionna Buckanaga, who was set to graduate high school a month after she was shot. 

READ MORE: Vigil held for woman shot in vehicle in south Minneapolis

Man charged for 2020 shooting death of Arionna Buckanaga

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Fatal shooting:

Court documents show the shooting happened near the intersection of 39th Street East and Cedar Avenue South in Minneapolis at about 11:25 p.m. on May 4, 2020.

Officers found Arionna in the driver’s seat of a crashed Ford Mustang, with a gunshot wound to her head. She died at the hospital days later.

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Her boyfriend, who was a passenger in the Mustang, told police he did not know who shot at the vehicle. 

Investigation:

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The criminal complaint states officers found an abandoned Chevy Suburban with bullet holes in the hood about a mile-and-a-half away from the scene of the shooting. The bullet holes appeared to be consistent with the driver of the vehicle shooting over the hood and accidentally striking the vehicle. 

Investigators also found 32 shell casings at the scene of the shooting. About two weeks later, police found two Glock 9mm handguns in a compost bin about eight blocks away from the shooting. Law enforcement officials determined the two guns fired the 32 shots.

DNA swabs taken from the Suburban were found to match Malcom Chan Johnson and another man, Namiri Tanner. Tests on the firearms also revealed a mixture of DNA that also matched Tanner.

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Court documents say authorities then spoke to a witness on March 20, 2025, who told them Johnson confessed to the shooting and that Johnson had a “gang feud” with Arionna’s boyfriend.

Confession:

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Police then spoke to Namiri Tanner, who is in a federal prison in Kentucky. 

The complaint states Tanner confessed to shooting at the Mustang and from the passenger’s seat and said that Johnson was shooting from the driver’s seat, firing over the hood. Tanner added that the two men abandoned the Suburban and ditched the guns in a trash can. 

Authorities then interviewed Johnson on March 4, 2026. He admitted driving the Suburban and firing one of the guns.

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Johnson said he thought Arionna’s boyfriend was in the Mustang, but didn’t know she was as well, and said he did not mean to kill her, according to the complaint.

What we don’t know:

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It’s unclear if Tanner will face charges in the case. Tanner is being held in federal prison on a drug case. However, it appears he is due to be released next month.

The Source: This story uses information from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court and previous FOX 9 reporting. 

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Railyard fire in Minneapolis: Six semi-tractors burned

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Railyard fire in Minneapolis: Six semi-tractors burned


The semi-tractors that were on fire in Minneapolis.  (FOX 9)

Early Saturday, the Minneapolis Fire Department responded to several semi-tractors on fire in a railyard.

Crews respond to fires and explosions

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What we know:

Firefighters arrived at the railyard at 29th Avenue Northeast and Central Avenue Northeast around 12:15 a.m. They found six semi-tractors fully engulfed in flames. 

Authorities say the railroad company confirmed that there were no hazardous materials in the area, and Xcel Energy was contacted to shut down a nearby electrical line exposed to the fire. 

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The fire came under control in about 20 minutes, fire officials said. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. There were no injuries reported in the incident.

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What we don’t know:

The exact cause of the fire remains unknown as investigations continue.

The Source: Information from the Minneapolis Fire Department.

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