Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara is calling it an "outrageous outbreak" of violence in the last 13 hours.
Three people were killed in a shooting on the city's south side Tuesday night, with another killing Wednesday afternoon just blocks away. A fifth person was shot and killed Wednesday evening in the 3000 block of 15th Avenue South.
"What is even more disturbing than everything else we've already been talking about, is that one round from this shooting struck an SUV," chief O'Hara explained Wednesday afternoon. "It went through the back door of the SUV and passed just beneath the legs of two children in child seats. An infant and a toddler."
Minneapolis Police investigators believe the shootings are gang-related and possibly related.
"They found a male in his thirties and, immediately began providing life saving, medical aid," said O'Hara. "Unfortunately, that male was later pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS."
O'Hara confirmed that all four deceased are Native Americans and both shootings appear to be related.
"We've been hearing from people in the community that they believe people know what's going on here," says the chief.
At the moment, no arrests have been made, but they are tracking several leads.
"Our entire city is grieving right now and we know that our native community is feeling that trauma quite acutely," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey added. "We are making sure that every available resource is utilized to catch the perpetrators of these horrible crimes."
Police say information has been coming in and they are following up on several leads. So far there have been no arrests.
That late-night shooting in Minneapolis that left three people dead and two others seriously injured followed a period of relative peace in Minneapolis, which like many cities saw an increase in crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
But crime fell in many major cities last year, and Minneapolis recently went two months without a homicide until a man was shot to death April 19. It was the city's longest period without a homicide in a decade, according to police.
Authorities have credited the work of community organizations and a federal crackdown on local gang members.
In Tuesday's shootings, officers responded to three alerts from the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system in a south Minneapolis neighborhood, and 911 callers reported gunfire in the area, O'Hara told reporters.
Police arrived to find four gunshot victims in a vehicle and one nearby on a sidewalk, O'Hara said. The man on the sidewalk, and a man and a woman in the vehicle, died. Another man and a women were taken to a hospital, and O'Hara said the man was in grave condition.
O'Hara said it was “very clear” that the victims were deliberately targeted and that the shootings were “potentially gang related,” but he added that investigators were still working to determine a motive.
“Tonight our city is grieving,” he said. “After a relative period of peace, the likes of which had not been seen in at least five years, that peace has been shattered. And there are families that are suffering tonight, that are grieving.”
Police responded to reports of another shooting about an hour later just five blocks away and found evidence of gunfire. A man later was dropped off at a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Investigators were still trying to determine if those cases were related.
There were no immediate arrests. O'Hara asked for anyone with information to come forward.
“Now more than ever, we need our entire community to stand up and to not accept this level of violence.” he said. “And it is proven that if people are able to come forward with information as soon as possible, that will help us to provide some sense of justice for these victims and these family members.”