Not more than a few days have passed after Rep. Ilhan Omar and others called for a total dismantling of the Minneapolis police department, and she got a rude awakening to the reality of the situation.
Violence erupted last night in Omar’s cop-shamed city leaving 11 wounded and one dead.
“Screams were audible on a live video posted to Facebook that showed the aftermath at the scene,” a local Minnesota CBS affiliate reported. “Small crowds of people gathered, with some crouched over victims lying on the pavement before police officers on bicycles showed up to attend to them. Splatters of blood on the pavement were visible in the video after the victims were taken to local hospitals — some via ambulance and others in private vehicles, according to the police release.”
CNN reported that twelve people were shot, including one fatally, during an overnight melee in Minneapolis, police said.
The shooting took place Sunday morning in the 2900 block of Hennepin Avenue South, the Minneapolis Police Department said.
The 11 survivors suffered non-life threatening injuries, police said. No arrests have been made, and the motive remains unclear.
Witnesses said Hennepin Avenue South was also the scene of looting and destruction when violence marred the protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, who was killed in the same city.
Some of the same businesses on the street, which had just finished repairing damage from last month, are now left with shattered windows from the shooting.
Multiple 911 callers said the shooting continued up the block, and people scattered, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder told CNN affiliate WCCO.
At first, the gunfire sounded like fireworks, witness Erik Thompson told CNN. But it kept going.
“We started hearing whizzing by our ears, and it was the bullets coming towards us,” he said.
Thompson said he was standing near two police officers on patrol, who immediately drew their weapons and took up a tactical position behind a vehicle before proceeding to the location of the shooting.
