Minneapolis saw more violence this past weekend, and that included right into the living room of a Minneapolis couple.
There was fallout after a chaotic and violent weekend on the University of Minnesota campus after Minneapolis police say they responded to multiple disturbances near 4th Street and 13th Avenue. Two men were shot and taken to the hospital. The University put out a number of alerts over the weekend.
A woman is in critical condition after a shooting in a north Minneapolis parking lot early Saturday morning. A man is in stable condition following a shooting early Monday morning in north Minneapolis. Minneapolis police are investigating after a man was shot on the freeway Saturday afternoon. There were shootings in St. Paul and Lakeville, as well.
But, while the violence over what is the traditional end of the summer season is a concern, it struck way too close to home for Minneapolis residents Megan Stuart and Jack Hartigan, early Saturday morning when a bullet went through the window of their condo near the Stone Arch Bridge.
They joined WCCO's Jason DeRusha in-studio to talk about that incident.
DeRusha: This is horrifying, Megan.
Stuart: Year, I woke up to kind of, glass shattering in my kitchen area. I didn't get up because I was scared. I've kind of known the area, being loud and everything. I didn't want to go check, because I already feel like, kind of unsafe in the neighborhood, and I woke up to glass all over my kitchen and tables and a hole in my blinds. And it was devastating to open up my blinds to see a bullet hole and then spent a couple hours trying to find the bullet, and figuring out the path of the bullet, which was even more scary.
We, me and my boyfriend, fall asleep on our couch nightly watching shows, and it would have been directly over our heads. And that night it was just me at home and sleeping in my bed, but very much could have been a different outcome.
DeRusha: Jack, you were out of town, and then you get a phone call that says?
Hartigan: Yeah, so basically the phone call, I'm in Washington D.C. doing my thing, and basically get a call and very, very hesitant, Megan. We've experienced many things over the last six weeks in the neighborhood, and this is mainly the cherry on the top. So she called me, basically just FaceTimed me and showed me the bullet hole, and said, 'yeah, a bullet flew through the door last night or the window.' My initial reaction is normally silence because, I've been pretty up in arms over the last six to eight weeks about what's been going on outside.
DeRusha: I think a lot of people are gonna be surprised by that because when most people listening think about the Stone Arch Bridge area, you think about like, it's beautiful during the day, it's great. People are walking, riding their bike, hanging out by the river, going to Mill City Museum or whatever. I think people are gonna be startled to hear that for the past several months, what's been going on over there?
Hartigan: Yeah, I would say it's two different worlds, right? You have the day-to-day world, people are running, people are enjoying the parks, the bridge, I run the bridge almost every day. I think it's beautiful. At night, I wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't barely go outside. I'd hardly come outside of our unit, to go for a walk or much less anything between. We've had up to 200 to 300 people out there. It took one weekend, 4th of July weekend, took 12 cop cars to sort of flush them all out of there. Everything from fighting, to yelling, to cars, shootings, fireworks, and I think it was just a matter of time. There's three shootings just down by the bridge and we're about two blocks up, and the police basically, they'll flush them out of the bridge area or that park right by the bridge. And they'll basically just flush them up right outside of our place. And so, three shootings over six weeks, you know, two blocks away, you bring that group of people just up towards our place and I think it's only a matter of time.
DeRusha: Megan, I guess I can't even imagine the sense of fear. Is it fear? Is it anger? What goes through your mind now that you've had a little bit of time to reflect on the fact that a bullet came through your front window and you could have been sitting or sleeping right there?
Stuart: I think it's a lot of both, and a lot of sadness too. I'm mourning the loss of - I purchased this. This was my first home that I made a big girl purchase of my first homeownership, and It was everything to me. It was a creative space and a sanctuary, and it doesn't feel like that anymore. I don't feel safe sleeping there. I haven't in the past couple of days, and there's been many weekends where we've spent away. I'm angry that that's what this part of the city has become, because it's exactly what I wanted to move into, is a beautiful area, where I felt creative. I'm an artist and I love being a part of the Northeast community. And I don't want to be pushed out, and I feel like I have to leave for my own safety. It's really sad and, mourning that loss is really difficult for me.
DeRusha: What's been happening this weekend is unacceptable. When this is happening outside of where you live, you start to develop ideas of like, all right, if I were in charge, this is what I would do. What would you do?
Hartigan: Well, let's just say I come from the private sector. I ran a business for 13 years and when you want to make something happen as a leader, usually you have to do it. You do the things if you own a company, for example, you have to do right by your employees or your constituents. I hold the same responsibility to the government that we pay our taxes to, and I'll reverse on this for one quick second. But I actually had about a 40-minute conversation with two of the cops outside one of the evenings. And they basically said, and I'm paraphrasing here, their rulebook for what they can do went from around 200, to 700 pages. So imagine being that restricted.
DeRusha: Meaning what? Whether they can arrest people or haul them in or what?
Hartigan: So one of the examples he gave was, let's say for example, he's talking to someone on the street and they get a little disorderly. They just need to cuff him for five minutes while they talk to him. They release him. Him or her, whoever. Before, they were able to just write a quick report, let's call it a one-line report, took them 30 seconds to one minute. Now they have to write an entire report. If they put a handcuff, a single handcuff, maybe both, I don't know, on a person, they have to write an entire police report. So some things are administrative and other things are, simply you cannot engage. And again, I'm paraphrasing, but, if someone steals a car in Minneapolis, they can't chase them. So they could see the car get stolen, and then they cannot pursue them. That was my interpretation of that discussion. And so, it sounds like a lot of them want to do their jobs, but there's a lot of restrictions from the top, from the government, that's been restricting them from doing what they want to do.
DeRusha: I've been texting with the council member, Michael Rainville represented that area, and he said, 'look, there are things we can do, but this is also a very complicated issue because a number of the people who end up coming down there are not Minneapolis residents.' And people are allowed to go to a park. Now you can close the park at night. Yeah, which maybe they should, right? Would you guys feel better if they closed the park?
Stuart: Absolutely, they've put police order, like no parking signs on the street, but, I still had a bullet go through my window. There's small steps, but I think a way bigger step needs to be made because I'm worried for my neighbors and I'm worried for the community.
DeRusha: Are they acting with the urgency that I would feel if I were you two?
Hartigan: I would say I was actually, I'll say I was surprised to even get a response from the council member or anyone. But, I would say quick urgency to very surface level things. Meaning the parking restrictions. That solved the issue of basically allowing them to tow vehicles or ticket them, because there would be, again, 10, 20, 30, 50 cars sort of coming in, parking on the street with four-plus people in every single one of those. So, there are evenings with 200 people down there that were loitering, yelling, fighting, you name it, burning out, revving their engines, fireworks. And so they're doing the things that I think, at least my understanding of government like an executive order. It's like a quick sort of band-aid, but it's not actually gonna solve the problem.
DeRusha: Megan, do you wanna stay there or do you wanna move?
Stuart: This has been like, it's a hard decision, but I really do think I have to move out of that area. It's not an environment that I feel is inspiring anymore or anything of what I thought it was. And I, together I want to feel safe with Jack, and it's not the place that I feel like, right now, that doesn't feel like there's going to be enough change happening that would keep me there.
DeRusha: I hear it in your voice. It's sad to you two?
Stuart: I love that place so much. I had friends over, we had dinner parties at night, and I mean they could go past 10:00 p.m. But I don't want any of my friends there at 10:00 p.m. and just a lot of those things.
DeRusha: It's easy to just go in your political corners and not solve the problem?
Hartigan: For me it's about solving the problem. I'm all about solving the problem no matter where you stand and I just like to see someone actually care beyond words. Meaning through action. Actually change something or do something that materially fixes the problem, doesn't just sort of sound good for a soundbite or a political campaign. I don't know if I have faith in that approach right now, but, I guess that's what I'll say right now, and keep it at that.
