Minneapolis, MN
Long prison term awaits man for rolling Minneapolis shootout that led to SUV hitting, killing teen
A long prison term awaits a man who admitted to his part in a rolling gun battle on a downtown Minneapolis street that resulted in one of the two vehicles hitting and killing a teenager standing at the corner with her scooter.
Christopher L. Walker, 35, of Fridley, pleaded guilty this week in Hennepin County District Court to third-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in connection with the late-night feud in the North Loop on Oct. 6, 2021, that killed Autumn Rose Merrick, 18, of Minneapolis, who was riding a scooter after leaving work.
The plea agreement between the County Attorney’s Office and the defense calls for Walker to receive a term ranging from 21 ¾ to 24 ¼ years, with two-thirds of the time spent in prison and the balance on supervised release. Sentencing by Judge Juan Hoyos is scheduled for March 18.
Co-defendant Marvel G. Williams, 35, of St. Paul, was sentenced in March to a term of 24 ¼ years after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and a gun possession count.
According to the charges:
Police responded to the sound of gunfire shortly after 11 p.m. near N. 5th Street and 6th Avenue, where officers soon saw a black Range Rover speeding into the intersection and then heard a loud crash. The Range Rover hit a light pole and caught fire. The other vehicle, a silver Dodge Durango, rammed into a building.
Walker, Williams and another person in the Range Rover were seriously hurt.
A friend with Merrick said the two of them were riding scooters to the Holiday gas station at that intersection and standing on the corner where the Durango sped toward them. The friend said the Durango hit Merrick, pushed her into a building and left her trapped beneath the vehicle. Officers saw two bullet holes in the Durango.
Video surveillance from a nearby business appeared to show the Range Rover chasing the Durango just before they crashed.
Also this week, the driver of the Durango, 37-year-old Larvell Elmore, of St. Peter, Minn., was sentenced to a five-year term after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a gun while being a felon.
Elmore explained in October, when he entered his plea in writing, that “[I] was driving down the street and someone started shooting [at] me. [I] tried to get away, crashed my car and was hospitalized. The police searched my car and found an inoperable firearm.”
Minneapolis, MN
North Minneapolis shooting injures 2 near Logan Avenue
A shooting in north Minneapolis injured two men on Friday night.
Minneapolis police said officers responded around 9:30 p.m. Friday after multiple reports of gunfire near Lowry Avenue North and North Logan Avenue.Police said they found two men with gunshot wounds outside a home.
Officers said both men were outside when the gunfire started and a nearby hospital treated both men for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are still investigating. Officers said no arrests have been made.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
Minneapolis, MN
Man, 19, hospitalized after shooting in north Minneapolis; no arrests
A 19-year-old man is injured after a shooting in north Minneapolis on Friday, according to police.
Officers responded to the incident on the 2600 block of North Humboldt Avenue at 5:03 p.m. Officials said they found the man inside a home with apparent gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening.
The officers provided medical aid before the man was taken to the hospital, police said.
According to investigators, the man was outside the home when shots were fired and ran inside after he was injured.
Police said Friday night that no arrests had been made and that they were working to learn what led to the shooting.
Minneapolis, MN
Affordable senior housing revived at 600 Main St. SE
The Blueprint
A team led by Lupe Development Partners and Wall Cos. wants to bring more than 100 units of affordable senior housing to a triangular parking area near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the latest version of a yearslong effort to redevelop the site.
On Thursday, the Minneapolis Planning Commission Committee of the Whole reviewed plans for the five-story, 104-unit building at 600 Main St. SE. The project would require a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning and other approvals.
Jess Olstad, a city spokesperson, said in an email that the committee took no formal action.
“The next step for the project team will be to conduct public engagement around their potential comprehensive plan amendment, and to prepare their land use applications for submittal,” Olstad said.
Steve Minn, vice president and chief financial manager of Lupe Development, said Friday that the project received “very positive feedback” from the committee.
“We’re just going to proceed with the rest of our application, which will be in the next week or so,” said Minn, who added that the proposed location is a “perfect site for housing” and that “senior housing is a need.”
A comprehensive plan amendment would require Metropolitan Council review. If the approval process goes well and financing comes together next year, the project could break ground in 2028, Minn said.
A 58-space “principal parking facility” currently occupies the 37,401-square-foot development site, which is framed by Sixth Avenue Southeast, Main Street Southeast, and a railroad property, according to a city staff report.
The project would primarily offer one-bedroom units, though the mix would also include some two-bedroom dwellings and efficiencies. Thirty-nine stalls of underground parking are also planned.
Located near the Stone Arch Bridge trailhead in the Mississippi River Critical Area Overlay District, the project would be “compatible with the surrounding neighborhood architecture,” according to a narrative submitted on behalf of the developer.
The plan includes site improvements such as structured parking and pedestrian spaces, and a new public trail, which would connect to existing Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board trails in Father Hennepin Bluffs Park.
According to the developer’s narrative, the project “represents a reinvestment in a privately owned, undeveloped parcel that is not used for park purposes and is not planned for acquisition.”
The project would align the property’s “land use, built form, and Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Overlay District designations with the surrounding urban context and applicable regulatory framework,” the narrative states.
Wall Cos. and Lupe Development Partners, doing business as Bluff Street Development, have long wanted to redevelop 600 Main St. SE. In 2023, the developers pitched a plan for 80 affordable housing units on the site.
The developers’ history with the site goes back as far as 2009, when they proposed separate plans for a 98-unit and a 79-unit apartment project, as previously reported. In 2010, Bluff Street sued the city after the City Council rejected the plans. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011.
When development efforts first started, the Mississippi River Critical Corridor Area rules and regulations had not been defined, and “there was a lot of angst in the community” about what those regulations would be, Minn said.
Those regulations are now “well defined,” clearing the way for development, he said.
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