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

Two Killed, Officers Wounded in Downtown Minneapolis Apartment Shooting

Sandego.net – Gunfire erupted through the corridors of a high-rise apartment complex in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon, sending residents scrambling for cover while responding officers found themselves locked in a deadly exchange with an armed gunman. At least two people were killed and several others wounded in what authorities are treating as a mass shooting, according to officials who briefed reporters later that evening.

The incident unfolded in rapid, terrifying succession. Initial calls reached dispatch at approximately 4:36 p.m. local time, carrying reports of a single person shot, Minneapolis Police Sgt. Garrett Parten explained during a Wednesday press briefing. Within minutes, additional calls poured in describing sustained gunfire. Officers rushed into the building and discovered wounded occupants already lying in the lobby. Following the sound of continued shots, they climbed to an upper floor where they encountered what Peterson described as a thick haze that severely restricted their ability to see.

“We don’t know whether it was smoke or if there was some other event that caused that haze in the upper level floor,” Peterson said.

Four officers later reported adverse physical effects after exposure to the unidentified substance, city officials confirmed. The shooter, whose identity had not been publicly released as of Wednesday night, was confirmed dead. A preliminary investigation points toward a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though Peterson stressed the exact mechanism remained undetermined.

Officers Return Fire While Rescuing Victims

Minneapolis Police Interim Chief Bill Peterson described a scene in which responding units traded gunfire with the shooter while simultaneously attempting to extract wounded civilians from the building. Three officers sustained injuries during the confrontation. Two were struck by bullets; the third suffered a non-life-threatening wound. One officer took a round to the leg, another was transported for surgery, and the third underwent evaluation for a less severe injury. Governor Tim Walz told reporters Wednesday evening that all three were expected to make a full recovery.

Peterson added that his department already knew who the shooter was, though he declined to name the individual publicly. Earlier that same day, police had been dispatched to the identical complex to mediate a dispute that may have involved a resident undergoing eviction proceedings, according to a law-enforcement official briefed on the matter. Investigators were working to confirm whether that individual was also the gunman.

Residents Trapped Between Floors

For those inside the building, minutes stretched into an ordeal of uncertainty. Umecua Agnew, 48, was riding the elevator when the first shots rang out from the lobby below. Beside her stood a young girl who had just begun to step out of the car. Agnew grabbed the child by the back, slammed the up button, and pressed every floor key she could reach to force the doors shut.

“I just kept praying to the Lord, saying, ‘let me make it to my apartment and don’t get shot,'” Agnew recounted.

Women in the elevator with Agnew screamed as the reality of the situation sank in. The car carried them past the third floor, where it briefly stopped to drop off the girl and her mother, then continued upward. Gunfire echoed through the shaft. When the doors finally opened on the eighth floor, Agnew ran to her apartment, locked the door, and retreated into the bathroom before dialing her mother in tears.

Footage captured by a local television station showed what appeared to be dozens of uniformed officers flooding into the building in the minutes after the first calls. Later frames revealed officers carrying long guns maintaining perimeter watch outside while stretchers carried wounded occupants away. Police cruisers, armored vehicles, and ambulances ringed the block.

A City Still Processing Trauma

The apartment complex sits roughly five miles from Annunciation Catholic Church, where a gunman killed two children and wounded 27 others exactly one year earlier. That attack shattered a neighborhood’s sense of safety and ignited a national conversation about gun violence in places of worship. Minneapolis residents have now endured two major mass shootings within a twelve-month span, each in a different part of the city, each leaving families and first responders grappling with questions about how such events penetrate ordinary daily life.

Mayor Jacob Frey addressed reporters Wednesday night, crediting the responding officers with preventing a far worse outcome.

“But for their heroic work, the death toll would have been far higher,” Frey said.

He added that as officers moved unit to unit offering aid, the danger was extreme and the courage displayed was extraordinary. City officials confirmed one victim died at the scene and a second succumbed at a hospital. Three additional civilians were shot and remained under treatment. The shooter’s death closed the immediate threat, but questions about the haze on the upper floor, the earlier eviction-related dispute, and the precise sequence of events remained open as investigators continued their work through the night.