MINNEAPOLIS - Minneapolis police are investigating shots fired outside of Hennepin County Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said that the bullets hit the building at about 3 p.m., but nobody was hurt. A glass door was also shot out during the incident. The suspects left the area and are not in custody, police said.
Police said that the incident occurred when two groups of people got into a verbal confrontation.
"There was a group walking into the hospital and there was a verbal confrontation with another group and somebody from that group started shooting," said Lt. Richard Zimmerman, of the Madison Police Department.
The hospital was locked down briefly after the shooting to "assess the situation," but it was reopened a short time later, according to hospital officials.
"Once it was determined that there was no risk to the safety of our patients and staff, we returned to normal operations, with the exception of the closure of our 8th Street entrance during the investigation and the increased presence of security and law enforcement officers," said Sr. Media Relatioins Specialist Christine Hill, via a statement.
An eyewitness told KARE 11, "there must have been 15 (shots) at least. It felt like he was shooting for a really long time."
"I jumped out of my car, laid on the ground," the witness said.
The witness watched as people were laying down behind their cars outside of the hospital. He also could see the shell casings in the street and the bullet holes on the side of the building after the shooting had ended.
"A bunch of people came out of the hospital and started running down the street after (the suspects)," the eyewitness said. "It was insane."
