MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally at a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue just before 2:30 p.m.
Police Chief Brian O'Hara said officers found two men inside the encampment with gunshot wounds to the head. A woman was also taken to HCMC in critical condition with life-threatening gunshot wounds. The two men were identified on Monday as 32-year-old Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr. and 38-year-old Christopher Martell Washington.
A neighbor told KARE 11 they first noticed a tent in the area in August but it grew to a small encampment several weeks ago.
Sunday's shooting marked the second over the weekend at an encampment in Minneapolis. On Saturday morning, three men were shot in the Ventura Village neighborhood. One man died from his injuries.
MPD Chief Brian O'Hara said they have not ruled out the possibility of the two shootings being connected.
"It highlights how deeply dangerous these encampments are. We know within the confines of the 3rd Precinct over the last month until this weekend, already 13% of all crime, 19% of all gun crime and almost one-fourth of all shooting incidents, shooting victims in the 3rd Precinct, happen within 500 feet of a homeless encampment," said MPD Chief Brian O'Hara, during a press conference with Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday night.
"It is not a coincidence that these homicides are happening either right in or right next to a homeless encampment. To say otherwise is putting on blinders to the entire situation," Frey said.
Frey went on to say, "I've heard from a number of people throughout the city, including council members repeatedly, that we should not be shutting down these encampments. We should simply allow the encampment to exist continuously. That's not safe. That is not neither safe for the people at the encampment, nor is it safe for the surrounding neighborhood."
But Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez told KARE 11 that Frey is blaming the city council for things that are his responsibility, saying, "The mayor of Minneapolis is the only person that can evict encampment on city land and the public right-of-way. That is his job. He may want to shift that responsibility onto the council, but the facts are the facts. That's his job. We may not agree on the approach, but shifting the blame to the council is just irresponsible."
Frey said, "We've had council members and activists try to prevent these homeless encampments from being closed. That makes it all the harder to get the necessary resources in order to close them. And then all the harder the next time that the homeless encampment moves to try to prevent that one from getting set up, as well."
Nancy Ford, a small business owner in the area, said she walks the neighborhood daily and picks up litter in the area. She said she sent her first email to her city council person on the issue 12 years ago and is sending the same emails today.
"There's absolutely nothing compassionate about allowing people to live like this. This is some of the most vulnerable people in our population and they deserve to be treated far better than this. And continuing to leave people living in purgatory... isn't serving anybody. It's not serving the community that is negatively impacted by it and it's not serving the people that are in the camps that are being exploited by, you know, drug dealers," Ford said.
During the press conference, Frey said the city needs to be doubling down to make sure it's not easy to continuously set up and then move homeless encampments.
"This is not about a lack of shelter. It's not even most of the time about a lack of housing. The issues that we're seeing, in terms of crime and violence, it's about fentanyl," Frey said. "We need to be honest and realistic about what is happening right now. We need to call a spade a spade."
But Chavez disagreed with Frey's assessment that it is solely about fentanyl, saying, "Minneapolis Public Schools has a 30% increase in homelessness. We are seeing folks that get evicted from their rental units end up in shelters or at encampments. That is not a fentanyl issue. That is a poverty issue that needs to be addressed by this administration and our city enterprise as a whole. When it comes to encampments, we hear this myth that folks are resistant of services. But then you actually find that a housing-first model actually helps. If you can move someone into a tiny home with services, with mental health support, addiction services, an opportunity to have a job and a place to sleep at night, the likelihood that they're going to move into a permanent place and be stable has increased. That model works. Let's do more of that in the city of Minneapolis."
Sunday's shooting is under investigation. Officers detained three people at the scene but later ruled them out as suspects.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.