Organizers still have yet to reopen a homeless shelter in Minneapolis after a violent attack there in September that the shelter is saying was handled poorly by the Minneapolis Police Department.
People Serving People CEO Hoang Murphy says police first dismissed the reports of violence at St. Anne’s Place and that now staff and residents are asking for a formal apology.
"My families have shared with me that if this had happened to them on the street, they didn't think that they would then be heard, this would not be the case," Murphy tells WCCO Radio. "But because of the initial response, people are going to believe that I think this is an opportunity for the Minneapolis Police Department to correct this."
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara spoke to WCCO's Taylor Rivera about the shelter's request and he says ultimately the department put all the resources they had into solving the case.
"I'm sorry that he wasn't satisfied with the service," says O'Hara. "I'm sorry we weren't able to provide 24/7 coverage which is what he wanted. He wanted us to be able to post a police car around the clock in front of the shelter and we're just not able to do that."
But Murphy says initially the response from Minneapolis Police was dismissive.
"I was told by, you know, the police sergeant the next day that a crime didn't happen," he said. "The initial response was disrespectful (of) our guests."
Murphy says it was a traumatic scene on September 5 when two men got violent outside the shelter.
"Hit several guests with a pistol and then shot at one of our guest's vans and made a threat to kill everyone in the shelter," Murphy explained.
After an initial arrest of a man misidentified by Minneapolis Police in September, a second person was arrested and charged last week. 30-year old Travin Merritt is facing four counts of second degree assault, one count of second degree riot, and one count of carrying a firearm without a permit for his role in an attack outside the shelter.
The victims told police that they had gotten into a fight with another group of women about moving a car, during which time they say Merritt allegedly intervened and hit one of the women in the face and back of the head with a handgun. The women ran back to the shelter where surveillance video shows Merritt pointing a gun at the entrance. Merritt then allegedly walked to the vehicle of one of the victims and shot at the unoccupied car.
Murphy says he hopes to reopen the shelter in the next 3 weeks. The shelter was damaged in the attack.