Minneapolis homicide & robbery/homicide

2006 has picked up where 2005 left off in Minneapolis - more violence in the city, particularly South Minneapolis. (For newer readers/non-residents of Minnesota, North Minneapolis is generally considered high crime, with much of the violence gang-on-gang and drug dealer-on-drug dealer, etc. South Minneapolis is where the "normal" tax-paying citizens live, and consequently the upsurge in violence there is especially shocking).

First, Fox9 News just ran a story about what is thought to have been a home-invasion robbery turned homicide at 42nd and Pillsbury Ave. S. This is a quiet residential neighborhood with families, unused to violence in the past.

The other murder occurred in North Minneapolis in what is generally considered a "hot" zone; no stranger to violence. Nevertheless, the boldness of the sidewalk killing is remarkable. The Fox 9 website reports here: "2nd and 3rd Homicide of 2006 in Minneapolis".

Minneapolis police are investigating the second and third homicide of 2006. A man was shot and killed at the corner of 34th and Girard Avenue North around six this evening. A person got out of a car and shot him while he was standing on the sidewalk, then got back in as the vehicle headed off down the street. Neither the suspect nor the vehicle, described as a dark sedan, has been found. The other homicide took place at 42and Pillsbury. It's being described as a robbery gone bad.

The news is breaking at the time of this posting, so details are scarce. Channel 5 Eyewitness news also reports: "Third murder of the year in Minneapolis"

Minneapolis Police were dispatched to a robbery on South Pillsbury Avenue. When they arrived a female at the home told them multiple people had forced themselves into the home. When officers searched the house they found a male dead in the garage.

Police are [sic] releasing any details about the victim at this time.

The people who entered the home did take the victim's car. Police describe it as a 1996 White Ford Explorer with Minnesota license plates RDL-043.

WCCO TV Channel 4's report: "Police Search For Suspects After S. Mpls. Robbery"

Let's help the police catch these sewer rats if we can.