Ambush of officer caps violent weekend in Minneapolis
Contrary to reports suggesting Minneapolis is turning the corner on crime, the violence this past weekend demonstrates the city has a long way to go.
Friday evening, a Minneapolis police officer was tailing a group of robbery suspects who had earlier fled from police. As the officer attempted to call other squads to his location, the suspect vehicle pulled over and occupants fired what was described as automatic gunfire at the officer, hitting his vehicle several times and striking the officer once in the shoulder. Four suspects, including a juvenile male, were arrested after the suspects crashed following yet another flee from police. The officer who was shot was treated and thankfully released from the hospital that evening.
Chief of Police Brian O’Hara
Unfortunately, this shooting was just the beginning of an outrageously violent weekend in our signature city.
Throughout the remainder of the weekend the following violent activity was recorded and reported by @CrimeWatchMpls.
- Two (2) gunfire murders
- One (1) stabbing murder
- Eleven (11) additional gunshot victims
- One (1) non-fatal stabbing
- One (1) attempted vehicular homicide involving a suspect who repeated ran over the victim
- One (1) MTC bus and one (1) light rail train reportedly hit by gunfire in separate shootings
- Seven (7) armed robberies including 1 person walking across the stone arch bridge
- Eleven (11) “shots fired” calls with no known victims hit
- Multiple fleeing police in motor vehicles, and one (1) stolen car that crashed into a residential garage and started a fire at 7:30 am.
- Multiple overdoses reported, and one “DOA” found on a park bench in Commons Park adjacent to US Bank Stadium
Data is available to construct the argument that violent crime is “down” in Minneapolis. Such an argument belies the reality one sees when comparing current-day Minneapolis to the Minneapolis of our past. A healthy city on the rebound does not experience the horrific levels of unprovoked and random violence that Minneapolis continues to experience with regularity.
The report last week from Chief O’Hara that the city is losing officers faster than they can be hired is a far more prescient data point to monitor when gauging the health and safety of Minneapolis. The chief correctly assessed the situation as “unsustainable.” If the trend continues, Minneapolis will soon have fewer than half the officers it employed just three years ago.
If things are going to turn around in Minneapolis and the greater twin cities, it will require unwavering and unrelenting support for law enforcement voiced repeatedly by city, county, and state leadership — something that has occurred at woeful levels since 2020.
It is time for the activist voices to be drowned out by the voices of reason and sanity. Our collective futures rely on it.