MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police cleared a homeless encampment following an explosion of violence Monday that ended in a man's death.
Officers were dispatched to the 3300 block of 3rd Ave. S. just after 5 p.m. on reports of a shooting and upon arrival found a 33-year-old man laying on the sidewalk. Police rendered aid to the victim until paramedics arrived to take him to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he later died of his injuries.
The victim was identified Wednesday as JaBraun Garron Hole, 33, of Minneapolis.
Police said a large fight erupted inside a homeless encampment that grew on a vacant lot, and then spilled out onto the street where Hole was shot. Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the encampment was cleared and shut down.
“The loss of life resulting from someone resorting to gun violence during an altercation has impacted yet another neighborhood in Minneapolis,” said Chief O’Hara in a released statement. “This senseless loss of life is a harsh reminder of the violence that continues to be all too common. I am thankful that this encampment was cleared before additional violent crime could occur in that neighborhood.”
On Tuesday morning a KARE 11 crew was at the former site of the encampment as city employees fenced in the lot in an attempt to keep squatters away.
Those living nearby say they've feared for their safety while the encampment was there. One woman asked to not share her name or face, instead calling us from inside her home to talk about what she's seen.
"Upwards of a hundred people descend on this piece of land," the woman said. "It brings guns, it brings violence, it brings threats."
Despite that, the woman says there needs to be help for those that need it.
"They do need to be taken care of in some way," she said. "Nobody, you know, we're not heartless individuals."
Some of those working to help include Mike Goze and Travis Earth-Werner with the American Indian Community Development Corporation.
"I think what's really magnified the problem is drug addiction," Goze, the CEO, said.
Goze says that stems from cheap illegal drugs that are easy to find.
"I'm two blocks away from it. I drive by it every day, I see new people every day. There is no gatekeeper," Goze said. "And so people are continuing to come because of the the ability to have drugs and have activities, negative activities that people are drawn to."
"What's allowed to happen is going to occur," Earth-Werner added. "If you don't respond and have accountability measures in place, then it's going to continue to grow and continue to escalate."
AICDC has beds and programs in place to help with harm reduction and having a safe place to sleep, though they admit it isn't enough to hold all that need help. Goze says there's more that needs to be done, either through funding or collaboration, to ensure this doesn't continue.
"Unless we get really proactive versus reactive in how we address the needs that we have today, we're going to have greater needs tomorrow," he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is also weighing in. In a statement, the mayor said, "I am saddened to hear about the homicide that occurred at an encampment last night. This incident reaffirms that encampments are neither safe nor humane for those who live in them or around them. Our residents, housed and unhoused, deserve better—and I am grateful to our entire City team for their continuous work to connect residents to housing and shelter services, and safely close encampments.”
The mayor's office shared that included in the proposed 2025 budget for the city is money set aside for Homeless Response Coordinators, and funds for other shelters in the city.
Along with that, the Mayor's Office says there's nearly $30 million set aside for affordable housing programs.
KARE11 reached out to Council Member Andrea Jenkins, the Council Member who's ward this shooting was in, but have not heard back as of Tuesday evening.
Homicide investigators are working the case and attempting to determine the events that led up to the fatal shooting. At this point no arrests have been made.