A late-summer murder surge in Minneapolis

A mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis overnight claimed the lives of two with three more injured. It caps a deadly week in the state’s largest city.

The Minnesota Star Tribune writes that at least two other shootings were reported last night elsewhere in the city. Adding up the carnage:

There have been five homicides in Minneapolis since last weekend, bringing the year’s total to 57. There were 47 homicides in Minneapolis at this time in 2023, according to a Star Tribune database.

At 57 homicides, the year-to-date total is still slightly below the three-year average of 60. Year-to-year comparisons are made difficult by reclassifications of older crimes and changing definitions between periods.

[Update: the two murder victims from Friday night have been identified. The county medical examiner has identified Lunden Woodberry, aged 21, and the Star Tribune identifies Benjamin Haggray, aged 20. The three other three nonfatal victims were female, aged 16, 17, and 23. We’ll continue to update as more information becomes available.]

In the meantime, let’s catch up on two other homicides from this week. Police believe both were committed by the same person and both occurred near south Minneapolis homeless encampments.

Joshua Anthony Jones, aged 36, is currently being held in Hennepin County jail, awaiting a Monday court hearing. This KSTP report includes a booking photo for Jones. Bail has preliminarily been set at $1 million.

Jones’ Monday court date represents a first appearance in no fewer than five separate criminal cases, dating back more than a year. In those cases, his home address is given alternately as Bemidji and Minneapolis.

But let’s back up even more. Jones first appears in the judicial database in 2006 with a misdemeanor alcohol-related disorderly conduct conviction arising from an incident occurring just two weeks after his 18th birthday. His first DWI conviction dates from August 2006.

His first felony conviction also dates from August 2006. It involved gun possession.

His next felony conviction involved six counts and dates from April 2010. It involved a nonfatal shooting committed for the benefit of a gang. Fox 9 TV reports:

According to court documents, Jones is a long-time member of the Native Mob and has an extensive criminal history.

Jones appears to have received a multi-year prison sentence as a result of that shooting.

In 2018, Jones was convicted of a felony assault on a corrections officer while serving time at the Oak Park Heights prison. He was sentenced to additional prison time.

In April 2020, Jones is back on the street and is pulled over for speeding and he gives a false name to the state trooper. He is sentenced to probation.

A DWI-related fleeing felony (his ninth felony conviction) is recorded in August 2020.

In March 2021 he was still on the street, picked up for fighting. A series of misdemeanor convictions followed in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

A March 2023 case involves Jones stealing a police bait car in Minneapolis.

The first case to be heard in Jones’ Monday court appearance dates from August 2023 and involves two felony counts for stealing another bait car in Minneapolis.

Case #2 has Jones facing a single felony assault charge from a March 2024 nonfatal shooting in Minneapolis.

Case #3 has Jones facing a single felony theft count stemming from a third bait car theft in Minneapolis.

Now we come to the events of Wednesday, September 18.

The incident that afternoon involves felony second-degree murder and gun charges for Jones.

The incident (Case #4) occurred near a homeless encampment at 25th Street and Bloomington Ave. in South Minneapolis. I visited this encampment last month.

He faces felony 2nd-degree murder and gun charges in the death of Robert Brown.

He faces additional felony gun and attempted murder charges (Case #5) in the evening incident that occurred a few blocks away.

According to the police report, Jones arrived at the evening site in a stolen red Jeep with a stolen license plate. He shot and wounded a man.

Jones is identified as an American Indian. According to police reports, two of the three shootings on September 18 involved African-American victims and racial animus on the part of Jones. He has not been charged with any hate crimes.

Jones is accused of murdering two individuals on Wednesday, along with the nonfatal shooting: Ronald Littleowl, aged 20 Native American, and Robert Brown, aged 39 black.

Presumably, Jones will face at least one additional felony count for the evening death of Littleowl.

To recap: Josh Jones had been previously convicted of nine (9) felony counts and faces at least nine (9) new felony charges.

[Update: Jones did have his court hearing on September 23, with his next appearance schedule for October 24. Bail was increased to $1,500,000.]