Star Tribune
Teen pleads guilty to role in shooting that wounded on-duty MPD officer
A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Hennepin County Juvenile Court for his role in a shooting that wounded an on-duty Minneapolis police officer in August.
William Ward Jr., who did not fire the shot that struck the officer, was charged with attempted second-degree murder. The plea deal calls for him to receive treatment at the Red Wing juvenile facility for an indeterminate time and remain on extended probation with a suspended 13-year adult sentence until he’s 21, according to court records.
At Ward’s sentencing Wednesday, officer Jacob Spies provided a victim impact statement in front of his colleagues and Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell before Judge Mark Kappelhoff accepted the plea agreement.
MPD officials confirmed that Spies, a seven-year department veteran who was shot in the shoulder, was cleared to return to work full-time in early November.
Spies was pursuing a robbery suspect Aug. 11 on the North Side when gunfire struck the back of his shoulder. Four people were arrested and three faced charges of attempted second-degree murder or aiding attempted murder in the aftermath.
Frederick Leon Davis Jr., 19, of Minneapolis is accused of shooting Spies and his trial is slated for March.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office petitioned to have Ward, also of Minneapolis, certified as an adult and stand trial in adult court.
But last week, prosecutors and public defender’s reached negotiation. In exchange for Ward admitting to the attempted murder charge, the state agreed to drop its petition and instead designate Ward as extended jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ), according to court records.
Charges do not list a motive for the shooting, or indicate whether the suspects knew they were shooting at law enforcement. In addition to driving an unmarked sedan with tinted windows, Spies was wearing a blue Minneapolis police T-shirt rather than full uniform.
According to the criminal complaint:
Just before 8 p.m., officers observed a white Chevrolet Equinox in the area of a robbery that had just occurred in north Minneapolis. The SUV initially pulled over but then sped away.
Spies was driving alone in the unmarked vehicle when he saw the Chevy about an hour later and pursued it for about a mile. As he crested a hill, Spies noticed the Chevy parked near by the curb with its lights off. Suddenly he was hit by a volley of automatic gunfire and felt his arm go numb.
Spies drove off and a backup officer pulled him from the vehicle and raced him to the hospital. Backup officers later spotted the Chevy and initiated a high-speed chase that continued for 26 blocks until the Chevy crashed into a parked car.
Two suspects, later identified as Davis and Nevaeh Lee Page, 20, fled on foot. Ward “stumbled out of the car with an apparent head injury,” while another man— who wasn’t charged— remained in the vehicle until he was arrested.
Investigators found two firearms in the car: a fully automatic Glock 19, equipped with a switch, on the front floorboard where Davis was sitting, as well as a Polymer 80 9-millimeter “ghost gun” without serial numbers in the back where Ward was sitting.
Preliminary ballistics evidence suggests the Glock fired 12 shots and the 9-mm fired three.
As part of the plea deal, Ward has a lifetime firearm ban.
Star Tribune staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
Star Tribune
‘Take our lives seriously,’ Michelle Obama pleads as she rallies for Kamala Harris in Michigan
”We are looking at a health care crisis in America that is affecting people of every background and gender,” Harris told reporters before visiting the doctor’s office.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden went to a union hall in Pittsburgh to promote Harris’ support for organized labor, telling the audience to ”follow your gut” and ”do what’s right.”
Harris appeared with Beyoncé on Friday in Houston, and she campaigned with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen on Thursday in Atlanta.
It’s a level of celebrity clout that surpasses anything that Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has been able to marshal this year. But there’s no guarantee that will help Harris in the close race for the White House. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Trump despite firing up her crowds with musical performances and Democratic allies.
Trump brushed off Harris’ attempt to harness star power for her campaign.
”Kamala is at a dance party with Beyoncé,” the former president said Friday in Traverse City, Michigan. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, is scheduled to hold a rally in Novi, a suburb of Detroit, on Saturday before a later event in State College, Pennsylvania.
