Police trying to find person who shot rifle on July 4

Police in Minneapolis are trying to find the person who shot a hunting rifle and injured a bicyclist during the Fourth of July fireworks last weekend.

Police said a man and his fiancee were riding their bicycles to Nicollet Island at about 10:30 p.m. when the man was shot in the back. It happened as the two were turning onto North River Road from West Broadway Avenue.

Lt. Michael Fossum, who oversees the police department's robbery and assault unit, said the hunting rifle could have been fired from several hundred yards away, because it appeared the bullet was losing velocity when it hit. It shattered the man's right shoulder.

The man, an Iraq war veteran, was taken to North Memorial Medical Center and released, but Fossum said the bullet caused permanent damage.

Fossum said police hope people will help them find the person responsible.

"We don't think the person intended to hit the victim on the bicycle, it was just somebody that was extremely negligent and extremely stupid to do something like that," Fossum said. "People think on the Fourth of July they can fire a firearm off just to celebrate the Fourth of July and they just think it goes up in the air and doesn't come down. Well, this bullet came down and it came down on him."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Fossum at 612-290-2085.