2 dead and multiple people injured — including police officers — in mass shooting at downtown Minneapolis apartment building

Two Killed, Officers Wounded in Apartment Tower Shooting That Rocked Minneapolis Again

Activelifezero.com – A high-rise residential building in downtown Minneapolis became the scene of a deadly mass shooting on Wednesday afternoon when a gunman opened fire inside the structure, killing two people and wounding several others before being killed in a shootout with responding officers. The incident, which unfolded over roughly an hour, sent residents scrambling through hallways and into locked apartments while dozens of police units converged on the building.

The first emergency calls reached dispatch at approximately 4:36 p.m. local time, with initial reports indicating a single person had been shot, Minneapolis Police Sgt. Garrett Parten explained at a Wednesday evening briefing. Within minutes, additional calls poured in describing sustained gunfire, transforming what began as a single-victim report into a full-scale active-shooter response.

Officers Into the Fire

Responding units rushed into the lobby and immediately encountered wounded residents. Following the direction of ongoing gunfire, officers climbed to an upper floor where they met what Peterson described as “a haze that significantly limited their visibility.” The interim chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, Bill Peterson, said the substance causing the haze was unidentified — smoke or some other event on the upper level — and that four officers later experienced “adverse effects” after exposure.

In the ensuing exchange, three officers were wounded. One sustained a gunshot to the leg, described as non-life-threatening. A second officer required surgery. The third was evaluated for a non-life-threatening injury. Peterson noted that gunfire was audible on radio transmissions throughout the building during the confrontation.

“But for their heroic work, the death toll would have been far higher,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told reporters at a Wednesday night news conference.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz confirmed Wednesday evening that all three injured officers were expected to make a full recovery.

The Shooter

The gunman, later identified as 35-year-old Carlton Neal Johnson II, was fatally shot by responding officers in a ninth-floor hallway, according to Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans at a Thursday briefing. A law enforcement source had earlier told CNN the shooter likely died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though the official account attributes the fatal wound to officers’ fire.

Peterson stated that police “were familiar with who this individual was,” suggesting prior contact with law enforcement. Earlier that same day, officers had been dispatched to the apartment complex to investigate a dispute that may have involved a resident in the process of eviction. Authorities were working to determine whether that individual was also the shooter.

Civilians Caught in the Crossfire

Two people died in connection with the shooting: one at the scene and another at a hospital, city officials confirmed. Three additional civilians were shot and transported to a hospital for treatment.

Umecua Agnew, 48, was riding the building’s elevator when she heard gunfire erupting from the lobby below. A young girl beside her was about to step out of the car when Agnew grabbed the child’s back and slammed the up button.

“I grabbed her back and I hit the button so the elevator could go up … so we wouldn’t get shot,” Agnew recalled. “I just kept praying to the Lord, saying, ‘let me make it to my apartment and don’t get shot.'”

Women in the elevator screamed when they realized someone was firing inside the building. They mashed buttons to force the doors shut as the car climbed. The elevator deposited the girl and her mother on the third floor before stopping again on the fifth, where the sound of gunfire continued to echo through the structure.

A Community Still Reeling

The shooting landed just five miles from Annunciation Catholic Church, where a gunman killed two children and wounded 27 others exactly a year earlier — an event that sent shockwaves through the neighborhood and the broader national conversation about gun violence in everyday public spaces. For Minneapolis residents, Wednesday’s tragedy arrived with the particular weight of a wound that had not yet closed.

The scene outside the apartment tower was dominated by police cruisers, armored vehicles, and ambulances. Video obtained by CNN affiliate WCCO showed what appeared to be dozens of officers flooding into the building, followed by armed personnel with long guns maintaining a perimeter outside while victims were wheeled out on stretchers.

“As officers quickly moved from unit to unit to assist anyone who needed help, I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous this situation was and how heroic our officers were in response,” Mayor Frey said.

Investigations continued into Thursday as authorities worked to piece together the shooter’s movements through the building, the origin of the upper-floor haze, and the connection — if any — between the earlier eviction-related dispute and the fatal shooting.