GARAGE EXPLOSION
Explosion levels Minneapolis garage, man seriously injured
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A New Year’s Day explosion and fire leveled one Minneapolis garage, set another one ablaze and sent a man to the hospital with serious injuries. Just after 11 a.m. Saturday, fire crews responded to reports of an explosion. They found one garage fully ablaze from an apparent explosion and the neighboring garage also on fire. A man was found in the back of his pickup parked near the debris of the garage that exploded. Paramedics transported him to the hospital, where he was listed in serious condition. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
FATAL SHOOTING-TEEN
Teen killed in New Year’s Eve shooting in north Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 15-year-old boy died and another teen was injured in a shooting in north Minneapolis on New Year’s Eve. Minneapolis police responded at 4:30 p.m. for a report of a shooting with one person down and another wounded. Officers found the 15-year-old boy with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene. The second boy, a 16-year-old, arrived at North Memorial Health Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. Police believe the two were walking when gunfire came from a vehicle. No one has been arrested. It was the 97th homicide in Minneapolis for 2021, tying the all-time record set in 1995.
MALL OF AMERICA-SHOOTING
2 wounded during Mall of America shooting, suspect sought
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two people have been shot and wounded following an apparent altercation at the Mall of America, sending New Year’s Eve shoppers scrambling for safety and placing the Minneapolis mall on temporary lockdown. Bloomington Police Department officials say the shooting happened about 4:30 p.m. Friday. One man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg during and another person was grazed. Shoppers ran for cover and the mall was evacuated until the lockdown ended about 45 minutes later. Police say no arrests have been made and the suspect is believed to have fled the mall. They say the shooting did not appear to be random.
FATAL-HIT AND RUN-BROOKLYN CENTER
8-year-old girl killed by driver who fled in Brooklyn Center
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The driver of an SUV struck and killed an 8-year-old girl in a Minneapolis suburb, then fled the scene. The Minnesota State Patrol reported that the crash happened late Thursday on a highway in Brooklyn Center, and they are looking for the driver and the white Nissan Rogue that he was driving, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Brooklyn Center police say the girl lived near the scene and was not believed to have been traveling in any nearby vehicles. It was not immediately clear why she was near the highway.
ROAD RAGE-ARREST
Suspect in Minnesota road rage assault arrested in Kentucky
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A motorist accused of breaking a man’s leg after being cut off in traffic in a Minneapolis suburb has been arrested in Kentucky after two months of evading law enforcement. The 60-year-old man was arrested in Kentucky last week after being charged with third-degree assault for the October incident, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Mark K. Henderson says he was injured by the motorist, who assaulted him in a Lakeville Walmart parking lot. According to court documents, the man accused Henderson of cutting him off in traffic.
SEVERE WEATHER-WIND CHILLS
Wind chill warning hits North Dakota, northern Minnesota
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Forecasters are warning negative wind chills could bring dangerously cold weather to North Dakota and parts of Minnesota during the night. The National Weather Service issued a wind chill warning until Saturday. It warns that the wind chill temperature could dip as low as 55 F below zero. The coldest wind chill temperatures were expected along the border with Canada. The weather service says frostbite can occur in as little as 10 minutes when wind chills are 45 F below zero.
HOMICIDES-2021
Minneapolis nears record homicide count for 2021
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis has recorded the highest number of homicides in over 20 years amid a nationwide spike in violent crime. The city has reported 96 homicides this year. It’s just one shy of a record set in 1995, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Homicides this year doubled from the count in 2019 as the city’s most diverse and low-income neighborhoods saw the bulk of the violence. Criminologists attribute the recent nationwide violent crime to a confluence of factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, as well as conflicts over politics and race. Shooting and armed carjacking are also on the rise.
MISSING GIRL
Missing Minnesota girl found in Detroit, man arrested
A Twin Cities teenager who has been missing since last week has been found in Detroit. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Thursday that 16-year-old Jymirah Chatman of Brooklyn Park was found at an undisclosed location in Detroit late Tuesday by the Michigan State Police and the FBI. Police said a 32-year-old Detroit man suspected of taking her from Minnesota to Michigan was arrested and is awaiting extradition to Minnesota. Chatman was last seen at her home early last week. She left a note saying she was leaving but would return. Authorities believe she was a passenger in a Toyota Camry involved in a single-car crash on Interstate 94 near Mauston, Wisconsin.
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