Harteau vows to increase police presence after latest gun death

Minneapolis police Chief Janee Harteau says the department plans to increase police presence following another fatal shooting.

The latest — the fifth homicide in Minneapolis in six days — happened around 4:45 p.m. Monday at Lake Street and Pleasant Avenue on the city's south side.

Harteau said the recent incidents are not necessarily related, but there is a common denominator: people choosing to settle conflicts using guns.

"Many of our suspects in the shootings certainly of late, but this year, have lengthy criminal histories. They are not first-time offenders in the criminal justice system," she said. "And we need to find ways to connect those dots and to try to predict and prevent those shootings before the next one occurs."

The chief said preventing shootings will mean reallocating resources within the department.

"We're looking at ways that we can take people out of different duties and jobs that maybe could wait, frankly, and we could focus on the street," she said.

Authorities have released few details about this latest incident. Police say the victim was an adult man and probably knew his attacker.

Peace activist K.G. Wilson was at the scene of Monday's shooting. He had planned to go to St. Paul's east side to console the relatives of a woman shot to death Sunday evening but was rerouted.

"While I was on my way to St. Paul I got this call —'K.G. there's a body laying on the ground on Lake and Pleasant,' so I did a U-turn," he said. "I just don't understand in the 15 years I've been here, I've never seen anything happen like this constantly day after day after day. We usually get a break in between shootings, but now, we have had no break."

Monday's shooting was the 40th homicide so far this year in Minneapolis. In all of 2014, 32 people were killed in the city.