Carpetlayer Caught In Crossfire In Minneapolis

What do the following jobs have in common: telephone repair, newspaper delivery, and carpetlaying?

Answer: When done in St. Paul or any other Minnesota city, they're employment tasks. When done in Minneapolis they become what Mayor Rybak would describe as "high risk" activities.

I've previously documented the Minneapolis shooting of a Qwest telephone repairman and the shooting up of a newspaper carrier's vehicle at four in the morning. Now enters involvement of the carpetlaying industry. WCCO News reports: "Worker Caught In Northeast Minneapolis Shootout".

(WCCO) Minneapolis Gunfire rattled a quiet weekend morning in northeast Minneapolis, and a man working in the neighborhood was caught in the crossfire.

The man, who asked to be identified only as Jim, was laying carpet Saturday in a renovated house near 26th Avenue and Washington Street Northeast.

When Jim went outside around 8:40 a.m., he couldn't believe what he saw: an action-movie-style shooting and chase as two cars traded gunfire.

8:40 am? The violence in Minneapolis is becoming cartoonish. It would almost be a parody of itself if it wasn't so serious. A guy can't even lay carpet at 8:40 am in Minneapolis without getting shot up.

"All of a sudden, as they come to the intersection, I see hands come up and guys start firing at each other," Jim said.

Jim said one of the gunmen then aimed for him.

"(A) hand came out, fired another shot -- boom, boom -- right at me," Jim said. "I ran to go duck behind the stairwell. I just ran for my life."

No one was hit, but police say between six and eight shots were fired. Investigators recovered a bullet that was lodged in a garage.

"It starts like a movie, and then all of a sudden you become part of the movie," Jim said. "That's the scary part."

That's an understatement, Jim.

Jim wasn't hurt, but his sense of security in the neighborhood where he was born and raised took a hit.

"It shouldn't be happening anywhere," Jim said. "It's sad that it's happening here."

The only comfort we can give you, Jim, is that you're not alone. You've joined a not-so-elite and ever-growing group of Minneapolis victims of violence.