Violence continues to plague Minneapolis

Thomas Dahl was a married man, with a daughter, 12, and a son, 6. He received the death penalty Saturday for visiting mayor Ryback's Minneapolis: "Suspects sought in man's beating death".

Mr. Dahl is actually in good company, because a lot of normal folks have been raped, mugged, killed, or worse in Minneapolis this year. Here's a link to some insight into the reasons why the city is dangerous: "Hennepin County rotating door "justice"".

Police continued to seek suspects in the beating of a 35-year-old Minneapolis man who died Saturday of his injuries. Officers found Thomas Dahl lying injured about 1:15 a.m. Thursday near Washington and 12th Avenues N., northwest of the Minneapolis Warehouse District. He had been downtown with co-workers Wednesday night. After they headed home, he went to get a cab.

The city leaders enocourage people to come downtown for entertainment. Mr. Dahl went downtown for entertainment. The city leaders steer you toward the revived Warehouse District, where all sorts of entertainment is to be had. Mr. Dahl went to the Warehouse District. He left the area at a fairly respectable hour intending to go home to his loved ones.

He never made it home.

He was found about an hour later with severe head injuries that might have been caused by a piece of wood that officers found at the scene. A man who apparently took some of Dahl's belongings was arrested there. He was released Friday from the Hennepin County jail pending a possible criminal complaint. Dahl died Saturday at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

The same folks who lure us downtown for entertainment are the same ones who don't want to do anything about the proliferation of criminals. They don't want you to be able to defend yourself with a firearm.

So why is it we should visit their city?

Here's another crime post showing how ordinary citizens are affected by Minneapolis violence: "Minneapolis - the Fallujah of the west".

Channel 4 (Minneapolis) crime reporter Caroline Lowe has noticed the violence as well: "Murders in Minneapolis: Who, What, When, Where, Why?".

I have been writing a lot lately about violent crimes in Minneapolis--including the shooting and robbery of a Qwest repairmen, the double murders at the Penn Best Steak House restaurant, the young children hit by stray bullets.The list goes on.

To get some context on the violence, you might want to check out an in-depth analysis prepared by the Minneapolis Police Department. I just received a copy of the report, which Captain Rich Stanek presented to the department brass on Friday.The study breaks down who's getting shot or killed in the city, what weapons were used, what were the motives, what were the most common days and times. It also contains data for last year to give some comparision.

The homicide and shooting report doesn't contain any big surprises but it does make for some interesting reading. I have attached a copy so you can check it out.

Caroline Lowe

Here's the homicide report referred to in Ms. Lowe's piece:

http://static.wcco.viacomlocalnetworks.com/~wcco/Documents/HomicideStudy.doc