St. Paul police shoot, critically injure man suspected in Minneapolis homicides
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
St. Paul police officers shot and critically wounded a man Monday night at a busy intersection in the city.
Authorities announced Tuesday afternoon that the 40-year-old man — who reportedly pointed a handgun at St. Paul officers — was a suspect in two recent Minneapolis shootings, including one at a homeless encampment on Sunday that left two people dead.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the police shooting. St. Paul police said the officers involved were wearing body cameras that were activated. Several police accountability groups have called for the immediate release of that footage.
St. Paul police shooting
According to the initial account from St. Paul police, officers responded to calls reporting shots fired just before 7:45 p.m. Monday and found a man carrying a handgun near the corner of Snelling and Charles avenues.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Police said the man pointed the gun at himself, refused officers’ directives to put down the gun and walked south on Snelling toward University Avenue.
“While this was happening, there were numerous vehicles and pedestrians in the area. When the man reached University Avenue West and Snelling Avenue he stopped moving south and instead walked around in the intersection,” the initial police news release states.
After continued negotiations to get the man to put down the gun, police said “officers used less-lethal projectiles in an attempt to get him to put down the gun but were unsuccessful. The man then pointed the gun at officers, and they fired their service weapons striking him.”
The man was taken to Regions Hospital. The BCA reported late Tuesday morning that he remained in critical but stable condition.
Authorities said the man had no permanent address but had recently been staying in the Twin Cities metro area.
The officers involved have been placed on standard administrative leave.
Suspect in Minneapolis shootings
On Tuesday afternoon, authorities announced that the man wounded by St. Paul police was wanted in connection with two shootings in Minneapolis.
One of those shootings — at a homeless encampment near 44th and Hiawatha Avenue on Sunday — left two people dead and another person injured. The men who died were identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner as Louis Mitchell Lemons Jr., 32, of Brooklyn Center, and Christopher Martell Washington, 38, of Fridley.
The second happened Monday on the 3500 block of Columbus Avenue, and left one man seriously wounded.
“MPD investigators will now work diligently with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to see appropriate criminal charges are filed and this man is held accountable for the two shootings in Minneapolis,” Minneapolis police said in a news release.
Calls for release of video
Several community and police accountability groups, including Communities United Against Police Brutality, raised concerns about the circumstances of the St. Paul police shooting.
“We are demanding that unredacted versions of all body-worn camera footage in this incident be released to the public immediately,” the groups said in a statement early Tuesday.
The groups held a press conference Tuesday morning at St. Paul City Hall. They raised questions about the initial police account of the shooting, and said the body camera footage could answer those questions.
“We have been told by witnesses that the gentleman was walking away from police and was walking on the light rail track,” said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality. “We want to know if that’s true or not. We want to know why this happened.”
Speakers at Tuesday’s news conference — held several hours before Minneapolis police released more information on the man who was shot — also raised concerns about how police handle calls involving people in mental health crisis.
“Our community is in pain,” said Toshira Garraway, founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence. “We can no longer allow time to go by where we don’t have answers. We are not accusing anybody of anything — but the only way, the only way to be able to move forward as a community is to get the truth right now.”
Dear reader,
The trustworthy and factual news you find here at MPR News relies on the generosity of readers like you.
Your donation ensures that our journalism remains available to all, connecting communities and facilitating better conversations for everyone.
Will you make a gift today to help keep this trusted new source accessible to all?
