MINNEAPOLIS — People Serving People cleared out St. Anne’s Shelter after an alleged assault.
PSP CEO Hoang Murphy said they had to relocate 54 women and children, after the alleged assault happened last Thursday around 8 p.m.
St. Anne’s Place is a homeless shelter for women and non-gender binary led families in North Minneapolis.
Murphy said two residents and one staff member were hurt by people who live in the area.
“Last Thursday, there was an altercation that led to two guests being physically harmed: one was beat up, and another person was hit over the head with a pistol, and then another staff member was pretty severely kicked in the leg while holding an infant,” he said.
Murphy said the people who harmed residents and staff then attempted to break in. Surveillance video shows people damaging two doors with a baseball bat.
“There was a misunderstanding over a public street parking involving one of our homeless mother’s van’s. My staff tried to de-escalate with the family and with the folks that were involved. Then some reacted with extreme violence,” Murphy said.
He said the assailants also shot at a van that belonged to one of the guests.
Murphy is frustrated no arrests have been made.
“The challenge that I have with this is on Thursday night when everything should have been addressed on Thursday, someone broke in the front door with a baseball bat and used a pistol to harm my guests and then fire on a vehicle, those are all crimes,” he said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said these things take time.
“I know when people are experiencing a problem whatever is, whether it’s crime, or some other issue, some other disturbance, or a breach of the peace… they want the police to respond, and I think sometimes people may have an expectation that the police can immediately make an arrest but sometimes it may be unlawful for police to do that,” he said.
O’Hara said officers were getting conflicting information from both sides and none of the victims came forward that night.
“This is a normal thing when police come, and no one is coming forward as a victim, and no one is saying they were physically injured and we have this conflicting information back and forth it is normal thing for police to take a report and conduct an investigation after the fact,” O’Hara said. “On Monday we did have two victims come forward.”
He acknowledges it can be disappointing for people when they don’t see immediate results.
“I’m sorry for people who feel like they have not received adequate service but at times that’s the reality of what we’re facing. In order to conduct an arrest, we need a victim, we need to know for certain the information we have is correct and what we got to sort out conflicting information,” he said.
O’Hara said police have stepped up patrols in the area and placed a mobile camera near the shelter. Murphy said they hired private security to watch the property.
On Tuesday, PSP staff were bagging up the remaining belongings of the 16 families who lived there. Murphy said all of them have been relocated.
“They’re pretty shaken up. These are families that are homeless, they entered shelter because of lack of resources and support. This is supposed to be a quiet place for them to heal, to get services, to get back on their feet, and get housing,” he said. “We had two families flee out of fear. They left the shelter system. We’re hoping to make contact to at least get them their materials.”
He said St. Anne’s Place will be offline for awhile until the issue is resolved and people feel safe returning.
“The folks who did this literally live across the street and there’s not a sense of safety or calm,” Murphy said.
O’Hara said he anticipates arrests will be made.