Minneapolis Police responded to reports of damage to property Sunday night, only to find more than 500 people on foot and in cars, not far from the University of Minnesota.
Officers quickly set up a traffic control plan and other agencies rushed in to help disperse the massive crowd. Officials say the large groups of people and vehicles were dispersed from the area without further incident.
Social media video shows people running, screaming and hopping over a fence as a firework is seen exploding near people outside Frank and Andrea Pizza in Dinkytown, Minnesota.
“Frustrating because I feel like it’s been happening quite a bit,” said U of M senior Elliana Jouppi.
Jouppi said she’s seen firsthand recklessness and risk increase in the area.
“A lot of us respect this University and really care about it,” she said. “Don’t think it’s campus students, random people coming here to cause trouble.”
This is not the first time fireworks flew near campus. Last summer—mayhem on the July 4th rattled this same area. Prosecutors charged 20 people with serious felonies for allegedly shooting fireworks at people, cars and police officers in Dinkytown.
A man and a woman have been charged with aiding an offender in the south Minneapolis mass shooting on Tuesday that killed one person and injured six others, court records show.
Tiffany Martindale, 30, and Ryan Quinn, 33, were both charged in Hennepin County court on Friday.
The shooting happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. in the area of 29th Avenue South and Clinton Avenue South. Responding officers found one man fatally wounded and six others with gunshot wounds of “varying severity,” charges said.
Investigators identified the suspect vehicle as a gray Honda Civic with no rear license plate after looking at dashcam footage provided by a witness, according to the criminal complaint. Officers were able to make out the front license plate of the vehicle and learned it was registered to Quinn.
Police went to the Inver Grove Heights address listed on the registration shortly after the shooting and saw the Honda with the rear license plate reattached. Charges said Quinn was driving, and Martindale was in the front seat.
Quinn told officers that he and Martindale had picked up a man, known to him as Bino, and driven him around the metro area, according to charges. He said Bino directed him to the area of the shooting, where they then “circled the block.” As they passed the area a second time, Bino told Quinn to stop the car.
Bino then got out of the car wearing a mask and holding a rifle, and started shooting into a crowd standing on the sidewalk, charges said. Bino got back into the Honda after shooting multiple rounds, which struck the seven people. Quinn and Martindale then dropped Bino off in north Minneapolis.
Investigators say there were numerous calls between Martindale and Bino during the day of the shooting. Charges said Bino also provided Martindale with the address of a McDonald’s on Lake Street, around two blocks from the area of the shooting.
If convicted, Quinn and Martindale each face up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000.
A woman is in custody on suspected drug offenses after police were called to a Minneapolis home during the overnight hours Saturday for a baby who wasn’t breathing.
According to Minneapolis police, the call came in just after 1 a.m. The caller said a baby wasn’t breathing at a home on the 1600 block of First Avenue South.
When officers arrived, they found an 8-month-old child who wasn’t responsive. The baby was then brought to Hennepin Healthcare by ambulance. As of this writing, the infant’s condition hasn’t been released.
Although a forensics team and investigators were brought to the home due to a potential fentanyl exposure, the reason for the baby’s medical emergency hasn’t been determined.
No details about the woman who was arrested have been provided at this time.
Following Wednesday’s mass shooting during a Mass at Annunciation Church, which left two students dead and 18 other people hurt, the Minnesota State Patrol and the Department of Natural Resources have been deployed by Gov. Tim Walz to help Minneapolis police provide public safety at schools and places of worship within the city.
Walz issued the partnership order on Thursday, after the city requested the additional help.
According to Walz’s office, 14 troopers and six DNR enforcement officers will coordinate with police to help with patrol coverage and visibility. Two squads, made of two people, will be assigned to one of the five precincts, where they will focus on schools and places of worship.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will also be helping Minneapolis police as the investigation into Wednesday’s shooting continues.
“Our presence is about more than patrols – it’s about letting the people of Minneapolis know they are not alone. Together with our law enforcement partners in Minneapolis, we’re committed to protecting our neighborhoods and supporting the community,” said State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic.
DNR Enforcement Division Director Col. Rodmen Smith said the enforcement officers are also committed to working with law enforcement partners, and that the agency “stands in support of the city and people of Minneapolis.”
Minnesotans are looking to answer the call for help following Wednesday’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis.
In an update late Thursday morning, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said a total of 20 people were shot on Wednesday, and two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed. Out of the 18 other people who were shot, 15 were children, and 3 adult parishioners in their 80s were hurt. As of Thursday morning, three kids were still hospitalized.
Events and efforts are underway to help victims, their families and healthcare workers. If you know of an event or an effort that isn’t listed below, please send information to tips@wcco.com.
Annunciation Shooting Victims and Families
Donate blood: Memorial Blood Centers has declared a blood emergency and says there is an urgent need for donors. The state’s blood supply is now below a two-day inventory, and the level needed to support hospital and patient needs is seven days. If you’re eligible to do so, you can donate at a center or find a blood drive, all of which can be found online.
Community members can send money directly to families affected by the shooting through a text-to-donate line. The Minneapolis Foundation says it will work with the Annunciation community to equitably distribute money donated to the affected families. If you’d like to donate, you can text ACF1 to 41444.
The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota has created the Annunciation Hope and Healing Fund, which will provide monetary help to the Church of the Annunciation. Not only will the money help those affected by the shooting, but it will also help with the needs of both the church and school. You can donate by using multiple methods. As of this publishing, the foundation says $200,000 has been gifted.
Donate a Care Cart to the Hennepin Healthcare team. Carts will include refreshments, which are rotated between inpatient hospital units, EMS and the emergency department.
Contribute to the hospital’s wish list, which will allow Child Life specialists to make sure kids have games, movies, puzzles, art supplies and more for patients.
Donate to Hennepin Healthcare’s Annual Fund, which supports Care Carts, Child Life, Children’s Literacy, Emergency Clothing Closet, Family Lodging, Food support, Social Services for patient support with transportation, medical equipment, co-pays and more.
As Minneapolis grappled with the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Catholic school church in which two children were killed and 17 people injured, police said “countless lives” had been saved by the church doors being locked as the shooter had not been able to get inside.
Two children, aged eight and 10, were killed in the church pews during morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic school church. Fourteen other children, aged six to 15, were also injured, two of them critically, though officials said they were expected to survive. Three adults, parishioners in their 80s, were also injured. Police said the suspected, Robin Westman, 23, killed themself and was found dead behind the church.
The shooter had tried to get inside the church to carry out the attack, but failed as the doors had been locked when mass began, Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara told NBC’s Today show on Thursday morning. As a result, they had fired through the windows, and the fact that they couldn’t get into the church “likely saved countless lives”, O’Hara said.
Online posts indicate that Westman’s mother worked at the church in the south of the city until 2021. O’Hara, told Minneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP that his office believes Westman had been a student at Annunciation.
“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping,”O’Hara said in a news conference on Wednesday. “The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem called Westman a “deranged monster” in a statement later on Wednesday.
“This level of violence is unthinkable. Our deepest prayers are with the children, parents, families, educators, and Christians everywhere. We mourn with them, we pray for healing, and we will never forget them,” Noem said.
He said the incident took place just before 8.30am during a service marking the first week of school. The pews had been packed with teachers, parents and children listening to a psalm. Just before the congregants were to proclaim “Alleluia”, bullets were fired through the windows.
“Down! Everybody down!” someone shouted as children ducked for cover behind wooden pews. One student threw himself on top of a friend and was shot in the back. A youth minister called her husband to say goodbye. People used a wooden plank to barricade a door and fled to a gymnasium.
The shooting went on for several minutes, according to a man who lives near the church and said he heard as many as 50 shots. Dozens of law enforcement officers soon arrived at the school.
Many knew each other well in a community that is built around the century-old Catholic school and parish, a suburb better described as a small town.
“I’m just asking [God]: ‘Why right now?’ It’s little kids,” said Aubrey Pannhoff, 16, a student at a nearby Catholic school who stood at the edge of the police cordon.
Pope Leo XIV, who is American, said he was praying for the families of those killed and injured in the “terrible tragedy”.
Westman grew up in Richfield, and applied in Dakota county to change their birth name from Robert to Robin Westman because they identified as a woman, according to court documents obtained by the Guardian. That request was granted in January 2020.
A rifle, a shotgun and a pistol had been lawfully bought by the shooter recently, O’Hara said, adding it was believed they acted alone.
He said Westman had scheduled a manifesto to be released on YouTube. The police said it “appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings”. The content had been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, he added. The videos were rambling, often showed writings in Russian, and contained a variety of references to things ranging from Donald Trump to antisemitic statements to gun rights.
As police continue to search for a potential motive, O’Hara said on Thursday that investigators were trying to obtain electronic search warrants to go through the shooter’s devices. “Everything that we’ve seen so far is really a classic pathway to an active shooter,” he told NBC’s Today show, but nothing specific had emerged yet in terms of motive for targeting this particular church.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics”, but O’Hara declined to be drawn on the motive at news conference on Wednesday, restating only that investigations into a motive were ongoing.
At a briefing, Minneapolis’s mayor, Jacob Frey, said: “Children are dead. There are families that have a deceased child … Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.”
Later, Frey added: “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community has lost their sense of common humanity,” he said. “We should not be operating from a place of hate for anyone. We should be operating from a place of love for our kids. This is about them.”
One of the documented victims in the shooting is 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who “was shot during the attack and is currently in critical condition in the ICU”, per a GoFundMe that was set up for family to help with “ongoing ICU care, future surgeries, trauma counseling, lost income, travel, and the countless unknowns that lie ahead”.
The GoFundMe notes that Forchas’s younger brother was also inside the school during the shooting and her mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, went to work to help during the tragedy, not knowing her daughter was critically injured.
Two children were killed when a shooter opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a mass attended by young students on Wednesday. The shooter died by suicide after the shooting at the church, which is attached to a school building.
Seventeen other children and adults were injured in the shooting, which occurred during a mass marking the beginning of the school year.
Here’s what we know about the shooting.
What happened at Annunciation Catholic Church?
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said law enforcement responded to the shooting around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. O’Hara said the shooter fired a rifle through church windows and was also armed with a shotgun and a pistol. The shooting occurred at the beginning of the mass, O’Hara said.
A government official briefed on the investigation and a law enforcement source told CBS News that the shooter was wearing all black clothing.
An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old were killed while they sat in the pews. The parents of the children have been notified, O’Hara said.
Seventeen others, including 14 children between the ages of 6 and 14, were injured, O’Hara said. The three injured adults were all parishioners in their 80s, O’Hara said on Wednesday afternoon.
Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church’s school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis.
Bruce Kluckhohn / AP
Police immediately entered the church and attempted to provide first aid, O’Hara said. The injured were rushed to area hospitals.
Hennepin County Medical Center received 10 patients and said one adult and six children were in critical condition. One adult and two children were being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis said it had discharged one pediatric patient and was treating six other. M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital said it had one pediatric patient in stable condition.
All of the injured children are expected to survive, O’Hara said Wednesday afternoon.
Who was the shooter at Annunciation Catholic Church?
Three law enforcement sources told CBS News the shooter was Robin Westman, 23, from suburban Minneapolis. The shooter acted alone, O’Hara said. Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the back of the church.
Westman recently bought the three guns legally and does not have any known criminal history, according to O’Hara.
Investigators said they are aware of a video Westman had scheduled to post on YouTube as the shooting occurred. The police chief described it as a manifesto that included “some disturbing writings.” The YouTube account and its videos have been taken down, and FBI investigators and other law enforcement officials are looking into them, O’Hara said. CBS News has reached out to YouTube for comment.
O’Hara said police are executing search warrants at three residences connected to the shooter. “Additional firearms” were recovered during the searches, he said.
Westman appears to have attended the school, according to CBS News’ Confirmed team. Westman’s mother worked as a parish secretary at the church, according to its website, and as an administrative assistant at the school, according to a newsletter. She retired from the church in 2021, according to a Facebook post from the church.
O’Hara said he could not comment on any motive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics.
Parents await news of their children’s status after shooting at Annunciation Church on Wednesday morning, Aug. 27, 2025 in Minneapolis.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Officials react to church shooting
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he had been “fully briefed on the tragic shooting” and said the White House would “continue to monitor this terrible situation.”
“Please join me in praying for everyone involved,” Mr. Trump said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation calling for flags at the White House and other federal buildings to be flown at half-mast until August 31 “as a mark of respect for the victims.” The White House flags were lowered moments after the proclamation was signed.
Governor Tim Walz said he had been briefed on the shooting and was “praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.” Walz also said that he had spoken with Mr. Trump.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for change after the shooting.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying,” Frey said. “It was the first week of school, they were in a church. These were kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance.”
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
A 79-year-old Minneapolis woman is recovering after being hit by gunfire inside her home early Sunday.
Steven Osthus says he still doesn’t understand how it happened. One minute, his partner was sitting at the dining table, cutting vegetables. The next minute, she was shot in the abdomen. Police say the shot possibly came from a passing vehicle.
“I can’t shake the picture of that bullet wound from my mind. Very difficult,” Osthus said. “I keep thinking if it had been a little higher, it might have been really serious. She could have passed away.”
He says doctors removed the bullet and part of her colon, and she’s recovering in the hospital, but the trauma isn’t over.
Back at the house, Osthus says everything feels different. Sitting in the same chair his partner was shot in just days ago, he questions how they will ever feel safe in the home again.
The shooting was one of four across Minneapolis that happened between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Police say all four appear to be unrelated.
In a written statement, Chief Brian O’Hara called the violence especially troubling, saying, “Any gun violence is unacceptable, and I’m grateful for our officers who respond with courage and professionalism … Together with our federal, state, and local partners, we remain committed to driving gun violence down in Minneapolis.”
Minneapolis police added that there’s been a drop in overall shootings and the city remains below 2019 levels. So far this year, 164 people have been shot in Minneapolis, which is down from 235 this time last year.
Despite the decline, Osthus says more needs to be done.
“There needs to be some out-of-the-box solutions. The crime is unacceptable, and a lot of neighbors feel the same way,” he said.
For now, they’re still weighing their options.
Anyone with information is asked to leave a voicemail with the Minneapolis Police Department at 612-673-5845, Crime Stoppers of Minnesota at 1-800-222-8477, submit a tip here or send an email to policetips@minneapolis.gov.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred Saturday morning at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis, leave two people injured and one dead.
Police say they responded to a call about a shooting at 21st Street East and 15th Avenue South at approximately 4:42 a.m.
Upon arriving, officers found three adult men injured by gunfire to whom they rendered immediate medical aid. All three men were transported to Hennepin Healthcare, where one of the men died as a result of his injuries.
Neighbors like Juan Alberz woke up to the gunshots.
“All the noise woke me up, and I heard the ambulance noise and people screaming,” said Alberz.
Alberz and his wife Kara Artishon said the encampment near their home has grown over the last four weeks.
Since then, the two said police have chased people away two times now and the encampment can range between 10 to 30 people at a time.
“Living nearby it is a challenge,” Alberz said.
For him, it is scary, considering his two sons also live in their home.
“It’s normal when you go out that you feel a little bit uncomfortable about the situation,” said Alberz.
“My only concern is crossfire or something or the house getting shot at,” said Artishon.
“We have known for months that the community here has serious concerns with people in encampments, people sleeping outside,” said O’Hara.
According to O’Hara, this encampment came about after a much larger encampment on Franklin Avenue by the underpass was cleared out.
Encampments like these bring increased crime and gun violence, police said.
In 2024, Minneapolis police said 23 percent of all shooting victims in the third precinct were within 500 feet of an encampment.
“As soon as one encampment is cleared, another one pops up somewhere else, and crime in the area immediately rises,” said O’Hara.
Research into the correlation between crime and encampments is less conclusive.
A recent University of Colorado study found “…no significant change in crime statistics…” after camps were removed.
Police are working to piece together the events that led up to the incident and how the men are connected to one another. Police say they’re also looking into the possibility that three suspects may have fled the scene on foot.
“Once again, tragedy has occurred at a homeless encampment and all three of the injured are known to police,” said Chief O’Hara. “Those injured today are part of the at-risk population in homeless encampments. They are suspects, witnesses, and victims of crimes. The level of crime, the drug use, and other things associated with encampments continue to create very unsafe conditions that we are working with our partners to try to address.”
Police said no one is in custody for this latest shooting. The two other victims remain hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Police encourage anyone who may have witnessed the shooting to report any information to CrimeStoppers. You report tips anonymously by calling 1-800-222-8477.
Mackenzie Lofgren is a web producer and digital content producer at CBS Minnesota. She writes web articles and produces short-form video content used on CBS Minnesota’s streaming platforms.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara announced Saturday that Minneapolis police will add extra security detail near Jewish synagogues ahead of the Jewish holy days and anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attacks.
The decision comes on the heels of terroristic threats made against Temple Israel, which resulted in the arrest of one person.
On Sept. 11, staff at Temple Israel reported to MPD that someone had called the temple multiple times threatening to “shoot up” Temple Israel, said a press release. MPD immediately opened an investigation into the calls.
“We take all threats made against our religious institutions seriously, and will continue to hold the individuals accountable who threaten any of our city’s houses of worship,” said O’Hara.
On Thursday, an officer working a special detail at Temple Israel was notified by a security that there was a man outside who they saw with a firearm. Police say the man fled before they were able to arrest him.
Police say they later identified the man as Jaden LeBlanc, 21. Police say LeBlanc was also responsible for the threatening phone calls Temple Israel received in Sept.
LeBlanc was located and arrested by MPD on Friday.
“Everyone in Minneapolis has the right to feel safe in their communities, and we will ensure our Jewish neighbors are protected as they celebrate the holy days,” said O’Hara. “I am incredibly grateful for the work of investigators in this case for quickly responding to the threats and likely preventing a tragedy from occurring.”
MINNEAPOLIS — A dozen states require police to trace guns recovered during criminal investigations, according to “Everytown for Gun Safety.” Minnesota isn’t one of them.
Data shows that 58% of law enforcement agencies in the state trace some weapons, but only 13% of them share what they learn.
Should that change? WCCO Senior Investigative Reporter Jennifer Mayerle went to Travis Riddle, the ATF’s Special Agent in Charge in St. Paul, to find out.
Pistols are the most commonly traced guns found at crime scenes in Minnesota.
“For crime guns, the easier you’re able to hide it or conceal it, or even just get rid of it, that is going to be the weapon of choice,” Riddle said.
They account for more than 70% of crime guns traced in Minnesota last year, most often Glocks, says Riddle. Reasons for the trace range from a weapon offense to homicide.
“The trends for the state is that the majority of the firearms that are recovered and traced in Minnesota originated in Minnesota,” Riddle said.
Agencies in the state have a choice if they want the ATF to trace its crime guns. It can be done online using eTrace or over the phone, and it’s free. Cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul do.
WCCO
“Why does St. Paul choose to do it?” Mayerle asked St. Paul District Chief Jeff Stiff.
“I think that it’s important, right? Obviously a crime with a victim, a person’s crime with a victim, and it can help you. You don’t know when it can help you, right?” Stiff said.
“Why does the department put all of the guns into the eTrace system?” Mayerle asked MPD Forensic Administrative Analyst Mehgan Hamann.
“So that it can help in any, I mean, it could help in any shape or form,” Hamann said.
Close to 40% of agencies in the state don’t use eTrace.
“There is an incentive for them to participate. But a lot of times what it takes is to show them that the first success of you trace this gun, this is where it got you. This is how it helps you,” Riddle said.
Agencies that opt in can share their data with other law enforcement in the state, but few do.
“It’s not something that they’re intentionally excluding. It’s a checkbox, and either you check it or you don’t check it,” Riddle said. “And if you don’t check it, then you don’t get to share.”
Lawmakers could change that and require agencies to trace crime guns. A move like that could create a bigger picture of guns connected to crimes within the state. It could also put more pressure on an already strapped tracing system.
“So right now, we’re on average of about 10 or 11 days to complete this firearms trace, which in our view is too long,” Troppman said. “Our objective is to get them done within seven days for a routine trace.”
“Why is it important for agencies to trace their crime guns?” Mayerle asked Troppman.
“The tracing of firearms not only identifies the purchaser of that particular firearm that was used in that crime, but the collective information of a firearm trace could lead to wider trafficking issues or bigger trends in that area,” Troppman said.
One thing is clear: the ATF wants more departments to use eTrace. And the center can already use more manpower. The budget proposal submitted for 2025 requests tens of millions for upgrades, saying in part: “Delays in crime gun trace results increase the risk of investigative leads going cold and leave shooters on the streets longer, giving them the opportunity to commit more crimes.”
“An increase in staff would certainly assist in making improvements to our facility. More resources, more funding, those kinds of things would certainly enable us to be a little bit more efficient,” Troppman said.
WCCO reached out to state lawmakers invested in gun legislation. They declined our interview request or said they needed more information before taking a position. We’ll be sure to follow up.
Wednesday at 6 p.m., we look into the national conversation to modernize the ATF’s tracing system.
Jennifer Mayerle happily returned to Minnesota and WCCO, where she began her career as an intern. The Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist joined WCCO as a reporter in May 2014. She also anchors “WCCO Saturday Morning” from 8-9 a.m.
MINNEAPOLIS — Two people are dead and two juveniles and an adult are injured after a shooting in downtown Minneapolis overnight.
According to Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell, officer responded to a 911 call about shots fired at 1:56 a.m. to the intersection of south Fifth Street and Hennepin Avenue.
Upon arrival, officers say they provided medical aid to five people: two males ages 20 and 21, and three females ages 16, 17 and 21.
Blackwell said police administered CPR on one of the males and a tourniquet on the other.
All five people were taken to Hennepin Healthcare where police say “two succumbed to their injuries.”
MPD recovered one firearm at the scene.
One person has been booked for inciting a riot, police say. They also report that they believe more people were involved in a fight that led up to the shooting.
Blackwell says that starting on Saturday, MPD will beef up their patrols downtown in partnership with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Metro Transit Police and a community group called “21 Days for Peace.”
This is a developing story. Check back to WCCO.com later for updates.
MINNEAPOLIS — A Twin Cities rideshare driver discovered an unwanted guest in the back of their car on Tuesday evening.
Minneapolis police say the driver reported finding a boa constrictor in their backseat, and “incredibly brave officers” were called in to safely remove the slithering stowaway.
Minneapolis Police
“No snakes, officers, drivers, or passengers were physically harmed,” police wrote in a Facebook post.
Officers couldn’t track down the owner, so the snake is now residing at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control.
Stephen Swanson is a web producer at CBS Minnesota. A 21-year station veteran, Stephen was a floor director for a decade before moving to the newsroom, where he focuses on general assignment reporting.
Minneapolis — On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara is racing to a priority call.
“I try to come out to show the officers I am here to back you up,” O’Hara tells CBS News.
O’Hara says his department is short by more than 200 officers, and has lost 40% of its police force in the last four years.
“It is incredible,” O’Hara said. “It’s not just that we lost 40% of the force, they’ve been facing the highest levels of crime and violence, in some categories, that the city has ever seen.”
Minneapolis is facing a surge in assaults, and nearly three dozen shooting calls a month. Officers have been subject to some mandatory overtime.
Large-scale police staffing shortages aren’t limited to Minneapolis. They are taking place in cities big and small, from coast to coast.
The Philadelphia Police Department is short about 1,170 officers, the agency told CBS News. The Chicago Police Department is short more than 1,140 officers, the department disclosed, while the Los Angeles Police Department is short more than 470 officers.
But in Minneapolis, the hurdle is more than just manpower, it is trust too. Nearly four years after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the department has cleaned the house of its top brass.
O’Hara was hired as chief in late 2022 from Newark, New Jersey — where he served as deputy mayor — as the department seeks to change its culture.
But not everyone thinks there’s been enough change yet.
“I don’t think that the department has been transformed by choice,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis community activist for nearly two decades. “I think that it’s been transformed by necessity.”
Armstrong says O’Hara has not yet rid the department of all officers who are too physical or too focused on people of color.
“It’s unfortunate that they’re down 40%, but this is of their own making, right? The handwriting was on the wall in regard to the conduct of many Minneapolis police officers,” Armstrong said.
Like many other departments, Minneapolis offers signing bonuses for new recruits. But O’Hara says the problem is deeper than money. In an February editorial in the Star Tribune, he posed the question: “Do we expect too much from police officers?”
“Well, people expect perfection every time, absolutely,” O’Hara told CBS News.
As he struggles to rebuild the force, O’Hara emphasizes to his officers that summer usually means a spike in crime.
“It’s getting warmer, and staffing is definitely a concern,” he told his staff at a recent roll call.
Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting has resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three Minneapolis teenagers are shot in a span of four days concluding a particularly violent week in the Twin Cities.
“It was like really a quick several rounds,” said Minneapolis resident Kim Choyke.
Choyke has lived in the NE Minneapolis area for 10 years and says she loves it, but Friday’s early morning shooting says the shooting has left her shaken up.
“Very upsetting having it be almost literally in my backyard,” Choyke said.
Early Friday morning, a 14-year-old boy was shot outside a gas station in Northeast Minneapolis while sitting inside an SUV. He later died at the hospital.
On Monday, two 15-year-old boys were shot in Minneapolis.
Investigators say the two teens shot Monday were inside of a stolen Kia. The same vehicle was spotted driving recklessly and running red lights before the shooting.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara says last weekend, 90 cars were stolen, 70 of them Kia’s.
“Just this overlap, stolen Kia’s, stolen Hyundai’s, illegal guns, violent crime is really just producing a lot of harm,” O’Hara said.
Going into the weekend– O’Hara says a new strategy is in place where juvenile investigators are on call 24/7.
“Clearly there is a need to have juvenile investigators available all the time because we are having these crimes happen at all different times around the clock,” O’Hara said.
A coordinated response to hopefully save some young lives.
“We are hopeful that will also help us get our hands around some of these issues,” said O’Hara.
Washington — The Minneapolis Police Department disproportionately targets Black and Native American people in law enforcement activity and is using unjustified force in many instances across the city, according to a yearslong federal review of the department stemming from the killing of George Floyd.
“The City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law,” the Justice Department’s report found in its investigation into the city’s law enforcement.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the findings Friday in Minneapolis, accompanied by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
“As I told George Floyd’s family this morning, his death has had an irrevocable impact on the Minneapolis community, on our country, and the world,” Garland said.
The Justice Department’s civil investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department’s practices began in April 2021, after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in Floyd’s death.
The sweeping review was undertaken to determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. The civil investigation was separate from the federal criminal probe into Floyd’s death, which resulted in convictions of three Minneapolis police officers who were found to have failed to step in to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force against Floyd, thereby depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free of such force. Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights.
The federal probe — which comprised police ride-alongs, discussions with over two thousand community members, and dozens of interviews with officers — focused on the entirety of Minneapolis’ police force and the resulting report recognized the city has already worked to change some practices. The police department now prohibits neck restraints and “no-knock” warrants, restricts certain crowd-control measures and has created a behavioral health response program, according to the report.
Still, federal investigators recommended nearly 30 remedial measures and improvements the city should implement to combat the racial disparities and excessive use of force in the department, like enhanced training and accountability measures and improved data collection of police activity.
According to the Justice Department’s findings, the Minneapolis Police Department disproportionately stops and uses force against Black and Native American individuals and patrols differently “based on the racial composition of the neighborhood.”
Federal investigators said the department conducts traffic and pedestrian stops against Black people 6.5 times more frequently than White people in the city, a rate only surpassed by enforcement activities against Native Americans, who are stopped at a rate of 7.9 times more than White people, when adjusted for their share of the population.
And throughout the period during which the study was conducted, the department used force against Black people at 9 times the rate and against Native American people at 13.9 times the rate that it used force against White people, the investigation found.
In all, according to the report, when compared to White people behaving in a similar manner in comparable circumstances, Black people in Minneapolis experience 24% more uses of force, 22% more searches, and 37% more vehicle searches.
“Though MPD has long been on notice about racial disparities and officers’ failure to document data on race during stops, and was made aware of expressions of racial bias by some MPD officers and supervisors, MPD has insufficiently addressed these issues,” the report alleged.
The Justice Department’s review also criticizes the excessive and unlawful use of force by police throughout the city, even in situations when race appeared not to be a factor.
“For years, MPD used dangerous techniques and weapons against people who committed at most a petty offense and sometimes no offense at all. MPD used force to punish people who made officers angry or criticized the police,” the report said.
Approximately 75% of the Minneapolis Police Department’s reported uses of force “did not involve an associated violent offense or a weapons offense,” according to the Justice Department. One example highlighted in the report involved an unarmed White woman who was shot and killed by an officer in 2017 after she approached his vehicle and “spooked” him.
Justine Damond was killed by a Minneapolis police officer after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home. One of the police officers who responded later told investigators he heard a voice and a thump on the back of the squad car, and glimpsed a person’s head and shoulders outside his window. The officer in the passenger’s seat fired through an open driver’s side window and struck Damond in the abdomen with a single bullet. That officer was convicted of manslaughter and the city paid the woman’s family $20 million.
Unreasonable use of tasers and chemical irritants, and using force unnecessarily against individuals already restrained — including against young adolescents in the city — are also areas of concern emphasized in the investigation.
The Justice Department opened the investigation after a jury convicted Chauvin of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death in May 2020.
Consent decrees were used in federal investigations of police departments during the Obama administration as part of a renewed commitment to civil rights issues and accountability in law enforcement. During the Trump administration, a 2018 memo restricted their use. Garland rolled back the memo when he opened the investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.
On Friday, Minneapolis and the Justice Department entered an agreement in principle to reach court-authorized consent decree that formalizes the federal findings and recommendations and appoints an independent monitor of the department.
“An enormous and important task lies ahead and we want this community to hear us clearly,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We stand with you at every stage of the process that lies ahead.”
The report also underscored the need for improvement in the Minneapolis Police Department’s cultural and training environment after finding “poor” de-escalation tactics and scant accountability measures were put into practice.
“This is truly about trying to change culture around policing…so we have a culture that our officers intentionally try to earn people’s trust in every interaction,” O’Hara said.
Since 2016, according to the Justice Department, the only officers who were punished for failing to intervene in a situation where another officer was acting inappropriately were those who failed to stop Chauvin from putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck.
“No other officer was disciplined for standing by while their colleagues violated someone’s constitutional rights” between 2016 and the present, the investigation found. And a review of the department’s conduct review process found more than a quarter (26.1%) of cases of reported officer misconduct went unresolved after two years.
The Justice Department also alleges Minneapolis police unlawfully retaliated against members of the press and protesters and did not appropriately respond to individuals in mental health crises.
“Your profession is essential…You are asked to keep your community safe, to uphold the rule of law, and to ensure equal justice under law,” Garland said Friday, addressing members of the Minneapolis police force. “This agreement is an important step forward to providing you with the support and resources you need to do your job effectively and lawfully.”
