MINNEAPOLIS — Police are investigating after three men were shot outside a Cub Foods in south Minneapolis near Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue on Sunday afternoon.
According to preliminary information from Minneapolis Police, two gunmen exited a vehicle and shot a man walking with his child around 1:45 p.m. The child was unharmed, but two other men were hit by gunfire, according to police.
According to authorities, two men were taken to the hospital, while a third declined medical treatment.
The gunmen fled the scene in the same vehicle, and no arrests have been made, according to MPD.
The grocery store was temporarily closed to customers while law enforcement blocked off the parking lot with police tape. CJ Simmons Jones, who was attempting to enter the store before realizing what had happened, said she frequently visits this location. “This is where I come,” she explained. “I bank here. I know the cashier here. I speak; we converse.”
Jones, who has been in recovery for nearly 30 years, works at Twin Cities Recovery Project, where she helps people with substance abuse and mental health issues. The Minneapolis Addiction Recovery Initiative (MARI) Safe Station “is a drop-in opiate response unit,” she explained. “We’re on call 24/7.”
“I am doing my part.” “We’re all out here trying,” Jones explained. “All you can do is try.”
Although the men injured in Sunday’s shooting did not sustain life-threatening injuries, Jones is well aware that the situation could have turned out differently. “It’s got to stop,” she said. “Our children are dying. Our families are suffering. “The funeral homes are full.”
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” said Alicia Wilson, the manager of a nearby Sally Beauty Supply store. “I think until the police can get over here and really be a presence over here and really actively do their job, then I think it might be a little better.”
“The managers of a lot of these establishments, they’re kind of trying to band together to create a better space over here,” she said.
According to the Minneapolis Crime Dashboard, police have responded to six calls about shots fired in the Longfellow neighborhood this year.