Gunman kills two, wounds three officers in downtown Minneapolis apartment tower

A gunman opened fire inside a downtown Minneapolis apartment high-rise on Wednesday afternoon, killing two residents and wounding three police officers and three other civilians before he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, city officials said. The shooting at Shoreline Plaza, the affordable-housing tower formerly known as Loring Towers, sent dozens of officers from at least half a dozen agencies converging on the Loring Park neighborhood and left the city absorbing one of its worst single-day violent incidents in years.

Police were called to the 15-story building at 15 East Grant Street just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after a 911 caller reported someone had been shot in the lobby, according to a statement posted by the City of Minneapolis. Officers reached the building within about two minutes and moved inside, encountering wounded victims and the sound of continuing gunfire from upper floors. As they climbed toward the source of the shooting, responding officers ran into a haze that officials said significantly limited visibility inside the stairwells, slowing the search for the gunman even as they worked to move injured residents to safety.

The numbers

By the time the building was cleared, three people were dead: two residents of the tower — one who died at the scene and another who died after being taken to Hennepin County Medical Center — and the suspected shooter, who officials said died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Six other people were shot and survived, including three Minneapolis police officers and three additional civilians, all of whom were taken to HCMC. One of the wounded officers was shot twice in the abdomen and underwent surgery; a second was shot in the leg; both were listed in stable condition, along with the third officer. Separately, two more officers were injured when a squad car crashed while responding to the scene, and four other officers were briefly evaluated after exposure to an unidentified airborne substance encountered inside the building, according to the city's account. In all, at least eleven people — three dead, eight injured — were affected by the violence and its immediate aftermath.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension took over the investigation, standard practice in the state whenever officers use deadly force or are shot in the line of duty. Under Minnesota law, the BCA's Use of Force Investigations Unit is required to investigate any incident in which a law enforcement officer's use of force results in death or is otherwise implicated in a shooting, a mandate the Department of Public Safety says is meant to keep those inquiries independent of the department whose officers were involved. Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Bill Peterson thanked the BCA for what he called its "prompt and professional investigative response" at what he described as a massive and chaotic crime scene.

How the suspect ended up there

The suspected gunman was identified by police as Carlton Neal Johnson II, 35, a Minneapolis resident who lived in the building and was in the middle of being evicted from it, according to court records reviewed by local outlets, including KSTP. Filings in the eviction case describe a pattern of conflict stretching back months: management records cited loud arguments, Johnson openly displaying a firearm to a security officer, and a June incident in which he allegedly assaulted another resident and threatened to kill someone. Building management had moved to terminate his lease over that incident but ultimately let him stay under a condition that he keep any firearm concealed on the property. Court records show at least six separate complaints about Johnson's conduct dating back to January, and a hearing in the eviction proceeding had been scheduled for September 11 — more than a week after the shooting. Officials have not stated a motive, and Chief Peterson said only that police were previously familiar with Johnson from past contacts, without elaborating on what those involved.

Who was affected

Shoreline Plaza is a roughly 230-unit subsidized apartment tower a few blocks from Loring Park in one of downtown Minneapolis's denser residential corridors, housing a mix of older adults and lower-income tenants. Residents described a chaotic scene as officers moved door to door checking on people trapped inside while gunfire continued to echo through the stairwells. The building was evacuated and its residents displaced for hours while investigators processed the scene overnight; city officials said the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were mobilized to provide temporary support and shelter for tenants who could not immediately return home. Beyond the building itself, the incident rattled a downtown neighborhood already dense with apartment towers, restaurants and the nearby Minneapolis Convention Center, prompting road closures and a substantial police presence that stretched into the evening.

Reaction

Mayor Jacob Frey held a news conference Wednesday evening praising the officers who entered the building while the gunman was still active inside, saying it was hard to overstate how dangerous the situation had been.

"They rescued victims, brought people to safety, helped get approximately four people to the hospital, all while getting shot at themselves. We're all standing with the victims and families impacted by this senseless act." — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey

Chief Peterson, who has led the department on an interim basis, called it "a tremendously tragic event" and said he was proud of how officers responded despite the chaos and the exposure risks inside the building. Multiple outside agencies assisted the Minneapolis Police Department at the scene, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minneapolis Park Police, St. Paul Police, the University of Minnesota Police Department and several suburban departments, reflecting the scale of the response to a single apartment building. The FBI also offered assistance to local investigators, though officials characterized the shooting as a local criminal matter rather than one involving any broader threat.

What happens next

The BCA's investigation is expected to focus on reconstructing the sequence of the shooting floor by floor, determining how Johnson obtained the firearm he used despite the conditions of his eviction settlement, and establishing why earlier reports of threats and a displayed weapon did not result in his removal from the building sooner. Because the shooter is dead, prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against him, though the BCA's findings are still expected to be forwarded to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for review, consistent with how the bureau closes out officer-involved incidents. The three wounded officers were expected to survive their injuries, according to hospital and police updates Wednesday night, and the department has not said when they might return to duty. City officials said additional information, including the identities of the two civilians killed, would be released as next-of-kin notifications were completed. Property managers for Shoreline Plaza have not said publicly what changes, if any, they plan to make to how the building screens and responds to reports of threatening behavior by tenants, a question likely to draw scrutiny from residents and fair-housing advocates in the days ahead.