Police: Minneapolis 10-Year-Old Dead After Suffering ‘Life-Threatening Gunshot Wound’

A 10-year-old died at a hospital after being shot in a downtown Minneapolis apartment, where he was alone with another minor, police said.

At approximately 11:35 p.m., officers with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) responded to the 300 block of Hennepin Avenue after receiving a report of a shooting, said MPD Public Information Officer Garret Parten at a press conference Saturday afternoon, captured on video by KMSP.

Once on scene, officers discovered the ten-year-old, who had sustained a “life-threatening gunshot” wound, and began administering medical aid right away. EMS subsequently rushed the child to a local hospital, where he later died, Parten said.

Citing a preliminary investigation, Parten noted that the child and another juvenile family member were apparently alone in the apartment when the shooting took place. He added that a forensic team from the MPD collected evidence from the scene and that investigators were still sorting out precisely what happened.

“We have two juveniles alone in a residence with access to a gun and that is always a bad recipe, always,” Parten said. 

He added that since the investigation is still in its early stages, the MPD will only be releasing limited information to preserve the integrity of the investigation. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner will be the entity that identifies the victim and his cause of death.

No suspects have been arrested, WCCO reports.

Parten said:

In this case, we’re going to do what we always do: collect the evidence, figure out the facts, and then follow those facts wherever they take us. When those facts are very clear, then charges will be considered based on whatever those facts equal to a possible crime.

The public information officer said deaths always carry impactful circumstances, but deaths of children have an overwhelming effect on the first responders who arrive at a scene, the doctors who care for a dying child,  the community who learns of such tragedies, and above all else – on the victim’s family. 

On Saturday, hours after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released a statement on Twitter calling for the community to “address gun safety & gun control laws.”

After the initial tweet, he posted another sharing his condolences for the victim’s loved ones.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends grieving the loss of their young loved one,” Frey said.