Tue Sep 16 23:00:00 UTC 2025: **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
**Minneapolis Reels from Two Mass Shootings at Homeless Encampments; Police Investigate Possible Connection**
Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis is grappling with a surge of gun violence after two mass shootings occurred within 12 hours at separate homeless encampments, leaving 13 people wounded, five critically. Police are investigating a possible connection between the incidents, which mark the fourth and fifth mass shootings in the city in the past three weeks.
The first shooting occurred Monday morning around 11 a.m. near the intersection of East Lake Street and Stevens Avenue, leaving five people injured, one in life-threatening condition.
The second, and more severe, incident took place late Monday night at a notorious homeless encampment near South 28th Avenue and East Lake Street. According to Police Chief Brian O’Hara, eight people were shot after at least 30 shots were fired. Officers responding to the scene found five victims with gunshot wounds, including a man and a woman inside tents with head wounds. Three additional victims arrived at local hospitals on their own. A fire also broke out in one of the tents during the police response.
“Here we are yet again in the aftermath of a mass shooting. This is not normal,” Chief O’Hara stated during a press conference early Tuesday morning.
The proximity of the two shootings has led investigators to explore the possibility of a connection. “While the investigation is still very, very preliminary, that is certainly something that we can’t rule out, and, of course, it’s something that we are considering,” O’Hara said. Mayor Jacob Frey echoed this sentiment, stating, “We don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Mayor Frey also addressed the ongoing challenges of managing the homeless encampment at South 28th Avenue and East Lake Street, the site of the second shooting. He noted the city’s months-long effort to clear the encampment, which is located on private property, and the resistance they have faced. “These homeless encampments are not safe either for the people that are in them, nor are they safe for the surrounding neighborhood,” Frey said.
The recent violence adds to an already strained environment in Minneapolis, following an August 27th shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that killed two children and injured 21, and an August 26th mass shooting that left one man dead and five others wounded.
No arrests have been made in either of the homeless encampment shootings. The investigation is ongoing, and police are urging anyone with information to come forward.
Minneapolis remains on edge as law enforcement works to bring those responsible to justice and address the underlying issues contributing to the rise in gun violence.
First Piper 