Last night shortly after 11:30 pm, shots rang out in Bar Zia in downtown Minneapolis. According to Fox 9 news, a 21 year old male died at the scene, and three others were injured by gunfire in the bar. As of this afternoon, the Minneapolis Police had not announced any arrests related to the murder.
The shooting of four people in the incident elevates it to a “mass shooting.” Last night’s shooting marks the 5th mass shooting in Minneapolis in just the past month.
What makes this shooting particularly troubling is the location – literally steps from the Hennepin County Jail, and a half block from Minneapolis City Hall (which houses the offices of the Minneapolis Police Chief and Hennepin County Sheriff), and the Minneapolis Federal Courthouse. It’s an area of town that rarely sees such violence.
The shooter, if and when he is caught, will have a few seconds time to glance at Bar Zia and experience a little poetic justice before he is driven through the jail’s sallyport doors located just accross the street.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was in the all too familiar position of having to make a statement after a violent incident. I feel for the guy, given what he and his agency are up against – both with crime and the city politics that has failed to quash it.
“This senseless violence is heartbreaking and unacceptable.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara
Yes, it is.