Minneapolis community on edge after shots fired near Santa’s visit at day care

MINNEAPOLIS — A metro day care is back open after gunfire shattered windows while children were inside visiting Santa Tuesday afternoon.

Officers responded to the sound of shots fired at 5:16 p.m. at New Horizon Academy, which is located on the 3300 block of Penn Avenue North. A man was seen taking off on foot and was taken into custody without incident.

“I am extremely concerned about this,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Someone who is clearly not concerned for human life, firing a weapon almost a block away, endangering all of these residences in between, and then striking a day care with kids inside is just outrageous.”

Police say it is unclear if he was involved in the shooting. A gun was also recovered nearby.

“All the kids were running, the mothers were running,” said Amanda Hollinquest, who was picking up her 2- and 4-year-old grandchildren when the shooting happened. “I saw in my rearview mirror people running. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re shooting,’ so I run in the building to make sure my grandbaby was safe.”

According to day care staff, children had just left the damaged classroom before the shooting, but many were still in the building following a visit from Santa. Police say they think the gunfire came from an alley located behind the day care about a block away. 

According to police, ShotSpotter detected seven rounds of gunfire from a nearby alleyway.

“Thank God no kids were hurt and no parents,” said Paul Anderson.

Anderson’s four children attend the daycare. He said he’d like to see more safety precautions.

“I feel safe that they go here. I just say that they should invest in some bulletproof windows,” said Anderson.

Police are still investigating and looking for at least another suspect.

New Horizon released the following statement:

“At around 5:00 p.m. an isolated incident occurred in our community that impacted our school. There was stray gunfire that led to shattered windows in one of our preschool classrooms on the second floor of our building. There were no children or staff in the classroom at the time of the incident. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Our director immediately alerted authorities. Today, children are safely participating in daily learning activities with their early childhood educators.

“The safety and security of the children in our care and our early childhood educators is our utmost priority. We use the latest in security monitoring technology, including video surveillance of the property and classrooms and secured entrances.”