MINNEAPOLIS — The man who carried out a deadly shooting in a Minneapolis apartment building had been investigated in June after displaying a handgun, but wasn’t charged, the county prosecutor said Thursday.
Carlton Johnson was killed by police who raced to the building after the first reports of gunfire, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigate agency.
Court documents say Johnson was facing eviction and had threatened a fellow resident with a gun in the months leading up to the shooting, which left two people dead, along with Johnson, and five others injured.
But the shooting began just outside the building's entrance during an arranged custody handoff, when Johnson shot and wounded a woman believed to be the mother of his child, Evans said. The child was not injured.
He then shot two building employees before taking an elevator to the 9th floor where he killed two building residents and then was killed in an exchange of fire with police. Evans said it was unclear if Johnson was targeting the residents or had simply encountered them in the hallway.
The five wounded included two Minneapolis police officers hit by gunfire and another officer who suffered injuries elsewhere during the operation, police said. The three officers were hospitalized but expected to make full recoveries. One officer was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen, officials said.
“This is once again a situation where domestic violence is central to a really terrible situation," Drew told reporters.
Earlier, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Johnson had “displayed the weapon but it did not leave his waistband” in a June 25th encounter. Minneapolis Police, who responded to the call that day, said he had a legal permit to carry the weapon, she said in a statement.
Moriarty said the office decided not to file the charges because there was “insufficient evidence to prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
On Thursday, investigators were scouring the scene of the downtown Minneapolis shooting.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were at the apartment building where the shooting occurred Wednesday evening, along with a mobile crime scene unit from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigative agency.
Minneapolis council member Elizabeth Shaffer represents the neighborhood where the shooting happened. She said 16 displaced residents had sheltered in a nearby church overnight and that the Red Cross had been providing support. Shaffer said her staff hadn’t received any previous constituent complaints related to safety or building management.
“That is surprising when you read the news reports, you know, of what was happening in the building, but there was, we have heard nothing,” she said.
Resident Julius Bailey was sitting with a friend just outside the building entrance when he heard gunshots and saw a man he recognized as another resident holding a pistol. Bailey said he heard a woman screaming and immediately started running, counting eight shots as he headed for safety.
Bailey said the man with the gun was well known in the building for being belligerent and showing off his weapon. Bailey, who moved into the building in June, said he went out of his way to avoid the man.
“I could tell he was trouble,” he said.
Chris Miller, who also lives in the apartment building, said he heard a rapid succession of gunshots and quickly ran outside for safety. He said he believed he knew who carried out the shooting and that he encountered someone in the hallway with a handgun earlier this week and reported that person to management.
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Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave, Hallie Golden in Seattle, Safiyah Riddle in Los Angeles and Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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