Photos and blog post by John HoffThere was a shooting today near 2700 Morgan Ave. N. It was one of the drastically decreasing yet still-too-many instances of gunfire in North Minneapolis which don't make the Star Tribune or the television news because no death resulted, no child was the victim, there was nothing bizarre or unusual about the incident. No police gunfire was exchanged in return. The victim of the shooting was just another no-name thug and the shooters were no-name thugs, too. If you didn't catch word of the shooting in the police highlights, or in the police highlights reproduced on the Minneapolis Crime Blog, you'd never hear of it.
But to the residents who were much-too-close to the shooting, who have to wash blood off the rear of their sport utility vehicle, this incident will be remembered for (most likely) the rest of their lives. The shooting happened like this, according to an eye witness. There were shots--probably three shots from a handgun--and two black males were seen running to a green Blazer-like vehicle on 27th Ave. N, between Morgan and Newton. Another black male, who was approximately age 30 and dressed in a red sweatshirt...
...was observed to half-run, half-stagger away from the green Blazer, which took off. This black male was seen to collapse near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., the infamous "salmon house" which was the scene of so much prostitution and drug dealing before getting shut down and boarded, then shut down and boarded AGAIN, and maybe this happened three or four times but the FINAL time it stuck and the accursed house remains boarded to this day. In any case, the black male collapsed, but got to his feet again and managed to get to a driveway near Logan Ave. N. He collapsed again near the sport utility vehicle of a resident, getting blood on the back windshield and tail light.
(See second image from top, above. The blood is on the windshield, and shaped like the letter "V")
There in the driveway, he cried out to bystanders (there were many by this time, mostly hookers, drug dealers, no-accounts who hang out in the area and ran to the excitiement)to call the police, and to please call his mama. This man was shot in the back, bleeding but not as profusely as one might assume, the bullet still inside of him and not making any exit wound out the front. So, well, police came and there was crime scene tape and so forth, and the bleeding man was taken away in an ambulance. Other witnesses at the scene--dealers and hookers and no-accounts who had been close to the incident, hanging around on the street--agreed it was the green Blazer-like vehicle and the two running men who had been involved in the shooting.
So now let me say a bit about the residents in this area. They have big, beautiful houses into which they have poured money. They vote. They know their city officials on a first name basis. And they have little children. So when somebody was gunned down on the street near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., and staggered to a driveway, and got blood on the resident's parked SUV, these residents FIRST called 911 and SECOND called City Council Member Don Samuels.
But to the residents who were much-too-close to the shooting, who have to wash blood off the rear of their sport utility vehicle, this incident will be remembered for (most likely) the rest of their lives. The shooting happened like this, according to an eye witness. There were shots--probably three shots from a handgun--and two black males were seen running to a green Blazer-like vehicle on 27th Ave. N, between Morgan and Newton. Another black male, who was approximately age 30 and dressed in a red sweatshirt...
...was observed to half-run, half-stagger away from the green Blazer, which took off. This black male was seen to collapse near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., the infamous "salmon house" which was the scene of so much prostitution and drug dealing before getting shut down and boarded, then shut down and boarded AGAIN, and maybe this happened three or four times but the FINAL time it stuck and the accursed house remains boarded to this day. In any case, the black male collapsed, but got to his feet again and managed to get to a driveway near Logan Ave. N. He collapsed again near the sport utility vehicle of a resident, getting blood on the back windshield and tail light.
(See second image from top, above. The blood is on the windshield, and shaped like the letter "V")
There in the driveway, he cried out to bystanders (there were many by this time, mostly hookers, drug dealers, no-accounts who hang out in the area and ran to the excitiement)to call the police, and to please call his mama. This man was shot in the back, bleeding but not as profusely as one might assume, the bullet still inside of him and not making any exit wound out the front. So, well, police came and there was crime scene tape and so forth, and the bleeding man was taken away in an ambulance. Other witnesses at the scene--dealers and hookers and no-accounts who had been close to the incident, hanging around on the street--agreed it was the green Blazer-like vehicle and the two running men who had been involved in the shooting.
So now let me say a bit about the residents in this area. They have big, beautiful houses into which they have poured money. They vote. They know their city officials on a first name basis. And they have little children. So when somebody was gunned down on the street near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., and staggered to a driveway, and got blood on the resident's parked SUV, these residents FIRST called 911 and SECOND called City Council Member Don Samuels.
Council Member Don Samuels--who cares about all the people in his ward, and would never word things as harshly as this blog post--for the record, here--showed up some hours after the shooting and spoke to the residents. For the record, here, the residents appeared upset but not "shook up." They have endured this crap for too long, and refuse to retreat, especially when all indications are that the neighborhood is actually turning around by leaps and bounds. Residents do not need to cower in their basements, peering from behind thick curtains. Instead, they stand on the sidewalk in front of their houses, outraged, and speak to their city council member and DEMAND the problems go away.
Residents in the area lay the blame for this incident squarely on the "brown house" located at 2651 Logan Ave. N. Despite being boarded, and repeatedly raided by police, the house continues to be a gathering point for (suspected) drug and prostitution traffic in the area. All the street problems in this part of the neighborhood appear to pass in and out of 2651 Logan Ave. N., and when this shooting happened the first observation of residents was how the low-lifes who gathered around the victim were known to be denizens of "the brown house."
Councilman Samuels (who has been re-elected in everything but final, official word) promised to get to the heart of the problem, and some hours ago was talking about a meeting between fed-up residents and city officials over the problems in this part of Ward 5. Samuels pointed out there are more problem areas than just this one, and attention needs to be focused on the problem areas until the problems are solved.
If anybody has more information about this incident, feel free to use the comments post below.
Residents in the area lay the blame for this incident squarely on the "brown house" located at 2651 Logan Ave. N. Despite being boarded, and repeatedly raided by police, the house continues to be a gathering point for (suspected) drug and prostitution traffic in the area. All the street problems in this part of the neighborhood appear to pass in and out of 2651 Logan Ave. N., and when this shooting happened the first observation of residents was how the low-lifes who gathered around the victim were known to be denizens of "the brown house."
Councilman Samuels (who has been re-elected in everything but final, official word) promised to get to the heart of the problem, and some hours ago was talking about a meeting between fed-up residents and city officials over the problems in this part of Ward 5. Samuels pointed out there are more problem areas than just this one, and attention needs to be focused on the problem areas until the problems are solved.
If anybody has more information about this incident, feel free to use the comments post below.
One comment rejected due to racist content.
ReplyDeleteFolks is folks,lets keep from tacking labels and making blanket statements on folks where they may not necessarily fit.
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion
What should be added is that the 4th and the Fire Department were on site within minutes of the gun shots.
Strange how they put up that crime scene tape and some folks just walk right under, over, and then get upset when one of the boys in blue yells at them to get back. Fact, they had a guy drive his car right under it! Some of these folks start yelling at the boys in blue like they were the ones that shot this dude, go figure? Better off to just let the guy lay and bleed in the street until his friends and family come and pick him up? Strange brew.
(Yes, I was a close observer one of the first 1/2 dozen or so on the scene)
Don Don he's our man if he cant do it no one can.
ReplyDeleteHere's the notation on the 4th precinct highlights:
ReplyDeleteSATURDAY (11-07-09):
Prelim RPT-Robbery/Shooting
27th Ave N and Morgan Ave N 12:22 hrs 09-345467
Victim was walking when he was approached by three males. All males had guns per witnesses. Victim was robbed of cash and a cell phone. Victim was shot twice in the back - transported to Hsp. with (NLT) wounds.
Personally, I don't buy it for a second that this was a random robbery - I believe if the victim was robbed, it was by rivals who known him to be carrying 'stuff'. But that's just my 2cents.