Two people were killed in a shooting at a downtown Minneapolis apartment building on Wednesday afternoon that left several others injured, including two police officers who were shot, the authorities said.
The gunman is also dead, but it was not immediately clear how he died, Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said at a news conference on Wednesday evening.
The shooting took place at an apartment building about half a block from the Minneapolis Convention Center and drew a large police response. The building is in the Loring Park neighborhood on the south side of downtown Minneapolis.
The first 911 call came at 4:36 p.m., and officers began arriving at the apartment complex three minutes later, said Bill Peterson, the interim police chief. Two officers were shot — one twice in the abdomen and another twice in the leg, Mayor Frey said. The officer shot in the abdomen was rushed into surgery and is in stable condition. Chief Peterson said the injured officers were expected to make full recoveries.
A third officer was injured in the shooting, although not by gunfire, officials said.
Four other officers experienced adverse effects after being exposed to an unknown airborne substance, and two officers were injured when their squad car crashed while responding to the shooting, according to the city.
Four civilians with gunshot wounds were transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where one of them died. One other person was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr. Frey described a harrowing scene, as officers moved from “unit to unit,” while under fire.
“But for their heroic work, the death toll would be far higher,” he said.
Officers rushed to the building in response to calls reporting gunfire and the shooting of one person, Sgt. Garrett Parten, a spokesman for the police department, said shortly after the attack. They entered the building and immediately discovered victims and heard shots coming from above, he said.
“Officers followed the sound of gunfire to the upper floor of the building, and on that floor, officers encountered a haze that significantly limited their visibility,” Sergeant Parten said.
While the police have not publicly offered a motive for the shooting, a city official and a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the gunman had been facing eviction. Investigators were trying to determine whether that led to the violence, both officials said.
Chief Peterson said Wednesday evening he had “no details” to share about an eviction, but said the gunman had been on the department’s radar. “We were familiar with who this individual he was,” he said.
Umecua Agnew, 48, was in the elevator of the apartment building with two other adults and a child when she heard gunshots, she said. As the doors opened, she pressed the button to head back to her apartment on the eighth floor.
“Oh lord, it just felt like the shooting was on every floor,” she said. “I could feel it every time the elevator went up.”
Ms. Agnew, who moved into the building in April, said she stayed in her apartment until police officers escorted her outside. “I just thank God that I was able to get into my apartment,” she said.
Stanley Taylor, 77, who has lived in the building since 2007 and uses a powered wheelchair, said he had been unable to return to his apartment for hours after the shooting.
Residents displaced by the shooting were directed to a nearby church for reunification, and the American Red Cross was setting up a shelter near the scene.
The shooting continued to disrupt the neighborhood Wednesday night. The Nicollet Diner, near the apartment building, remained behind police tape, with employees inside but no customers, said its owner, Sam Turner. “I’m worried about our neighbors,” he said. “We still don’t know who was involved.”
As the shooting unfolded, Jahkai Henderson, 19, had just met up with a friend near Nicollet Mall to ride their e-bikes on a beautiful late-summer evening. Police cruisers zoomed by, and one crashed into a civilian vehicle after blowing through a red light, he said.
Mr. Henderson heard gunshots ring out, and saw police officers race from their cars toward the building carrying assault rifles. Moments later, he saw someone on stretcher, covered in blood, being rushed out.
Omar Jamal, a community activist who said he watched the shooting and the police response from his balcony, said he watched a man smash a window in the building where the confrontation took place around the time of the shooting. “This is so chaotic and messy,” he said.
The apartment building, formerly known as Loring Towers, comprises affordable housing for families. In September 2025, two men were fatally shot inside the building by a third man who “ambushed” them from behind after they got off a second-floor elevator, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune. Both men were shot in the neck.
Minneapolis has been on edge after federal immigration agents shot and killed two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in separate incidents in January. Scenes of violent unrest and confrontations between protesters and federal agents in the aftermath of those shootings captured national attention.
Ishani Desai, Jeff Ernst, Matt Furber, Madaleine Rubin and Mack Liederman contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
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