Officials on Thursday identified one of two people shot to death in south Minneapolis in connection with what police said were three shootings carried out a day earlier by the same gunman.

Roland Scott Littleowl, 20, was shot in the head Wednesday in an alley in the 2500 block of S. 17th Avenue, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said. The examiner’s office said Littleowl died at the scene.

The shooting, the first of the three within 16 hours, was reported at 4:40 a.m. and also left a man in his 30s critically wounded, police said.

Minneapolis police have arrested a man suspected in the three shootings left a total of four people hit by gunfire, according to police. Officials have yet to identify the suspect, who has yet to be charged.

The first two shootings occurred near homeless encampments. Police have yet to offer motives for any of the gunfire.

The second shooting unfolded four blocks away, in the 2500 block of S. Bloomington Avenue, at 4:15 p.m. Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a man in his 30s was standing by a garage in an alley when a group of people passed by. One in the group approached the man and shot him in the head.

In the third incident, a man suffered a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound at 7:20 p.m. in the 2300 block of S. 17th Avenue. The suspect was arrested 15 minutes later near E. 26th Street East and S. 17th Avenue, according to police.

The shootings have escalated frustrations surrounding encampments of unhoused people on the city’s south side. Residents and have expressed concerns of sanitation and safety, while service providers and advocates have argued the city lacks shelter space, affordable housing and other resources.

Triggered by loud percussive sounds, the surveillance network captures audio clearly enough to triangulate the location of gunshots down to the exact block, determine how many rounds were fired and whether there were multiple shooters. ShotSpotter does not, however, purport to reduce overall gun violence.

Yet, a growing body of research questioning the system’s reliability in recent years has intensified scrutiny by activists and academics when those contract renewals came before local government bodies.

Critical reports by Chicago’s Office of Inspector General and the New York City Comptroller accused ShotSpotter of being a resource drain, often sending officers chasing alerts where no evidence of a shooting exists. In New York, the audit found that it also failed to detect more than 200 real incidents of gunfire in 2022 around Manhattan.

In Minneapolis, an examination of 4,100 police responses to ShotSpotter activations throughout 2022 shows about 70% with dispositions indicating police didn’t encounter anything – no victims, shell casings or physical evidence of a shooting – upon arrival, according to a Star Tribune analysis of 911 dispatch data.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Police in Brooklyn Park will soon have a new tool to track and find vehicles wanted in connection with shootings, abductions, car thefts and other violent crimes.

The City Council earlier this month authorized the Police Department to enter into a $28,000 contract with Flock Safety to install eight license plate readers that use cameras to take photos of the rear license plates of vehicles as they pass by. The devices alert police about vehicles that might be connected to serious crimes, Police Chief Mark Bruley said.

The technology “is a huge step forward in that work,” Bruley said, noting it can help identify vehicles wanted across the metro when they come into the city of Brooklyn Park.

The cameras do not take photos of drivers’ faces, Bruley said. Nor will they be used to issue citations for speeding, parking or equipment violations. But the cameras can identify the color and type of vehicle and other features such as if a vehicle has damage, the chief said.

Several agencies that already have the system have shared information with Brooklyn Park police and “we have solved many of our violent crimes through this system,” Bruley said.

The Eden Park Apartments installed the system on its own, and earlier this year shared information with Brooklyn Park police about a vehicle believed to be connected to a shooting. Officers tracked the suspect vehicle to Fridley and made an arrest, closing a case “that would have not been solved for who knows how long. In less than 12 hours, it was all wrapped up,” Inspector Elliot Faust said.

Bruley said only detectives can access data that will be stored for 30 days to prevent unauthorized use. An outside firm will audit usage every two years to ensure the department is following state laws.

The city has not yet determined where the cameras will go, but hopes to have them operational in the next few months.