Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara says the incident downtown over the weekend in which a woman allegedly drove her car into a crowd of people, killing a 16-year old, could have been much worse.
He adds that it's remarkable no one else was seriously injured or killed given the sheer number of people in the area at bar close on a busy downtown night.
O'Hara told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News they've ramped up staffing and have implemented new strategies since downtown crime peaked in 2021-22.
"There's roadways that are closed down, traffic patterns are changed in order to prevent the problem," explains O'Hara. "You know, that had been affecting 2021 and 2022, of people getting drunk, getting into arguments and then going into their cars and getting a gun to settle the most ridiculous of disputes."
Charges could be filed against the driver of the car as early as Monday. The crash at 5th Street North and Hennepin Avenue happened just before 12:30 Saturday morning. In addition to the teen who was killed, five others were hurt and had to be hospitalized.
O'Hara said officers were able to respond quickly thanks to a sea of surveillance cameras in the area.
"We can see people coming from different places and see, you know, fights, generally fights and disturbances as they start to occur and try and get officers there quickly to prevent things from escalating," says the chief. "That's been very successful in terms of the shootings that we've seen as well as robberies."
The suspect was arrested on the 2300 block of Bryant Ave. North, with O'Hara saying tips from 911 callers helped police find the woman.