MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man who carried out a deadly shooting in a Minneapolis apartment building had been investigated in June after displaying a handgun, but wasn’t charged, the county prosecutor said Thursday.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Carlton Johnson had “displayed the weapon but it did not leave his waistband” in the June 25th encounter. Minneapolis Police, who responded to the call that day, said he had a legal permit to carry
the weapon, she said in a statement.
Moriarty said the office decided not to file the charges because there was “insufficient evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Court documents say Johnson was facing eviction and had threatened a fellow resident with a gun in the months leading up to the shooting, which left two people dead and five others injured. The shooter was also was killed by police later, the prosecutor said.
Investigators on Thursday were scouring the scene of the downtown Minneapolis shooting that also left five others injured.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were at the apartment building where the shooting occurred Wednesday evening, along with a mobile crime scene unit from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigative agency.
The five wounded by gunfire included two Minneapolis police officers, while a sixth person, another officer, suffered other injuries, police Sgt. Garrett Parten said at a Wednesday news conference. The three officers were hospitalized but expected to make full recoveries, said Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson.
A 911 call about shots fired at the building came in just after 4:30 p.m. Officers were inside the building within two minutes and quickly found victims, Peterson said.
Officers heard more gunshots and followed them to a higher floor, where they found “a haze that significantly limited their visibility,” he said. Peterson did not provide additional details about the haze.
One officer was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen, he said.
One victim was fatally shot at the scene, and one died after arriving at the hospital, he said. It was not immediately clear how the shooter died, he said.
Minneapolis council member Elizabeth Shaffer represents the neighborhood where the shooting happened. She said 16 displaced residents had sheltered in a nearby church overnight and that the Red Cross had been providing support. Shaffer said her staff hadn’t received any previous constituent complaints related to safety or building management.
“That is surprising when you read the news reports, you know, of what was happening in the building, but there was, we have heard nothing,” she said.
Resident Julius Bailey was sitting with a friend just outside the building entrance when he heard gunshots and saw a man he recognized as another resident holding a pistol. Bailey said he heard a woman screaming and immediately started running, counting eight shots as he headed for safety.
Bailey said the man with the gun was well known in the building for being belligerent and showing off his weapon. Bailey, who moved into the building in June, said he went out of his way to avoid the man.
“I could tell he was trouble,” he said.
Chris Miller, who also lives in the apartment building, said he heard a rapid succession of gunshots and quickly ran outside for safety. He said he believed he knew who carried out the shooting and that he encountered someone in the hallway with a handgun earlier this week and reported that person to management.
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Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Safiyah Riddle in Los Angeles and Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed to this report.
