As over 100 individuals spilled into the pews of Grace-Trinity Community Church on a Tuesday evening, the space was transformed. Concerned neighbors and journalists replaced churchgoers, and elected officials took to the front of the room, faces illuminated by the fluorescent camera light and voices amplified by a microphone.
This was no casual event, but rather a community safety meeting held in response to two mass shootings in under 24 hours.
The first occurred the morning of July 19, just before 12:30 a.m., outside Reign Event Center, injuring nine. The second transpired that night at 8:20 p.m. near the 1800 block of Nicollet Avenue, killing one and wounding four. These shootings come nearly one month away from the one-year mark of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School.
The Minnesota Police Department (MPD) shared a statement on the shootings in a July 21 Facebook post, calling the events “heartbreaking” and ensuring that the public's safety remains their “highest priority.” MPD plans to continue “working relentlessly” to remove “violent offenders” from the streets.
“We are working diligently with along with our local, county, state, and federal law enforcement partners to identify those responsible and hold them fully accountable,” the statement wrote. “Every investigative lead is being pursued, and we will follow the evidence wherever it leads.”
But according to MPD, “the work did not begin Sunday,” as between July 1 and July 19, MPD removed 49 illegal firearms from the streets. In response, MPD is working to expand their current efforts, some of which include targeted enforcement, Operation Safe Summer and partnerships with prosecutors and community organizations.
Government officials, representatives from the chief’s office and more attended the community safety event, including the Elected Sheriff of Hennepin County Dawanna Witt and Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer, who represents Ward 7, to speak to the crowd.
“This is serious,” Shaffer said. “This is outrageous. This is not who we are.”
As a part of the event, attendees wrote questions for the speakers on notecards, which were then read aloud.
“We are really leaning into community ideas, community voices around this, and we want to hear anything that you know about these cases as well,” Shaffer said.
Inspector Ryan Kelly addressed the understaffing of MPD, recognizing that where 11 or 12 cops used to work, now there are only six or seven.
“We have less patrol officers than we ever had before,” he said.
One attendee chimed in, pointing to the back of her shirt, which stated that it “takes a village” to stop killings.
“Start working together,” she said. “It is pertinent. We should not be in this type of environment for this type of mass shooting.”
Witt responded, agreeing that to find a solution to the shootings, more than one voice in government needs to be heard.
“All the council members should be here,” she said.
A July 21 X post by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey echoed the need for collaboration, noting that MPD is working with county, state, and federal partners in investigating the shootings.
“No one agency can tackle violent crime alone,” he wrote.
By Amelia Bush
