A lot of questions about the man behind a deadly mass shooting in Minneapolis, including past issues and why he had a gun he was legally licensed to carry. The same gun that led to the deaths of two residents of his apartment building, and a number of other injuries, including to Minneapolis Police Officers.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says 35-year-old Carlton Johnson was being evicted with management citing a number of incidents and violations involving weapons.
On June 25, he walked around block of property with firearm visible and threatened a resident. Police then arrived after Johnson verbally accosted staff.
He was arrested and charges were given to the Hennepin County Attorney's office but there was not enough evidence to continue.
"I think that any time something like this happens, and unfortunately our community has seen far too much of this, people ask what could have been done differently. And that's a legitimate question," said Moriarty, speaking to WCCO's Susie Jones on Thursday.
Because Johnson never took the gun out of his waistband, Moriarty said they had no way forward to prosecute Johnson.
"When they followed up, they asked the individual, 'well, what did you mean by brandishing a gun?' And he explained, well, he didn't really brandish it, he showed it to me in his waistband,'" explains Moriarty.
Moriarty says they flagged him for a possible Extreme Risk Order Protection, but there was not enough evidence for that either.
"I think one of the first questions here is why did he still have a gun," she added. "He had a permit at one point, but at some point should that permit have been revoked?"
