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Minneapolis police arrested a man who they believe is responsible for three shootings Wednesday which left two people dead and two injured. 

Police say the shootings occurred within a few blocks of a homeless encampment.

Officers responded to the first report just before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on the 2500 block of 17th Avenue South. They found two men with gunshot wounds. A man in his 30s was transported to the hospital for care; a 20-year-old man was declared dead at the scene.

Police responded to a second shooting just after 4 p.m., blocks away from the earlier shooting. Officers found a man in his 30s suffering from gunshot wounds and attempted to give medical aid. He died at the scene.

A third shooting just after 7 p.m. left a man with life-threatening injuries. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says officers patrolled the area after the third shooting and arrested the suspected shooter about 15 minutes later. Police are continuing to investigate to determine a motive for the shootings and the circumstances leading up to them.

O’Hara said the department had received complaints from neighbors about the nearby encampment.

“This is ridiculous that there’s a second murder at an encampment in this neighborhood,” O’Hara said in a press conference following Wednesday afternoon’s shooting. “But the larger issue is the same frustration of residents of this neighborhood: We close one here, and it pops up somewhere else over there.” 

Law enforcement cleared the encampment last night, according to encampment organizers. In a post on social media, they called the eviction “senseless collective punishment” to the residents. They said encampment residents have struggled to find beds in shelters. 

Organizers said encampment residents moved to a new location after Wednesday’s eviction.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, speaking alongside O’Hara on Wednesday, said he wants to see the city and the county collaborate further to stop encampments from forming.

“We believe in providing people with deeply affordable housing. We believe in providing people with low or no barrier housing. We believe in an upstream approach to make sure that people get the care to prevent addiction and the treatment to heal from it,” Frey said. “And at the same time, we can’t make it convenient to set up these encampments.”

The man arrested on Wednesday has not yet been charged in the shootings.

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Estelle Timar-Wilcox

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Minneapolis police arrested a man who they believe is responsible for three shootings Wednesday, which left two people dead and two injured. Police say the shootings occurred within a few blocks of a homeless encampment.

Police arrest man following 3 Minneapolis shootings that left 2 people dead

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