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Mother of 21-year-old man killed in downtown Minneapolis bar shooting seeks answers

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Mother of 21-year-old man killed in downtown Minneapolis bar shooting seeks answers


Police in Minneapolis are still searching for at least one suspect in the shooting that killed a man and injured three other people inside a bar on Tuesday night.

Ericka Wheeler, the mother of the man killed, is also searching for answers. She shared her grief and a call to action with WCCO.

“He always had that smile,” Ericka Wheeler said of her son, 21-year-old DaMarco Fletcher, Jr., who died in the shooting.

She said Fletcher had a personality. 

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“Vibrant smile, lights up a room. He’s been having a big smile all of his life,” she said.

According to Wheeler, Fletcher fought from day one to prove he deserved all that life had to give.

“He beat odds. He was a preemie. He came in the world fighting. He was my everything,” she said.

Fletcher was a 2022 graduate of Armstrong High School. He excelled academically and athletically. 

“When I say he was a natural talent, that’s wrestling, basketball and football,” Wheeler said.

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Fletcher was focused on helping others.

“He was a PCA worker. He worked for the state doing PCA, and he did respite care,” Wheeler said.

She added that her son was also studying to get his real estate license.

“I’m just broken,” Wheeler said.

Fletcher was shot multiple times inside the bar. He died at the scene.

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“I need the establishment to be held accountable, as well as the person who took my son’s life,” Wheeler said. “They should have had more security, better security, and they should have did a better job.”

She wants to know how a gun got inside the club and the person who pulled the trigger, to do the right thing.

“I want the person who did this to turn themselves in,” Wheeler said.

Gloria Brown, Fletcher’s aunt, said he tried “so hard” not to be a statistic.

“If you said he couldn’t do it, he was going to push himself until he did it,” Brown said.

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She added that Fletcher was one of a kind and set the standard for all his friends.

“He didn’t live with limitations because he always believed that he could do well. He believed he could set goals and he could achieve them, and he did just,” Brown said.

Wheeler said detectives told her that her son was not the aggressor or instigator. She hopes those who know the shooter will encourage him to turn himself in so they can begin to heal. 



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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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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. 

Crime and Public SafetyMinneapolis
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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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