Many disturbances involving large groups of people setting off fireworks — at times targeting civilians, and police or their vehicles — erupted after dark in various locations around Minneapolis on July 4th and into early Wednesday despite efforts by city officials ahead of time to prevent such mayhem.
Minneapolis Park police and other law enforcement agencies tackled troubling incidents at six locations from about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday until past 2:30 a.m., said Park and Recreation Board spokeswoman Dawn Sommers.
At least five people were arrested and one other was issued a citation in connection with the trouble in the city that also included two people wounded by gunfire, Sommers said.
The Park Board made the Stone Arch Bridge downtown off-limits all weekend from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in hopes of preventing a repeat of a series of gun- and firework-shooting crowds gathering in or near downtown Minneapolis late last July 4.
The chaotic crowd gatherings that marked Independence Day in 2022 at times turned violent. Fireworks were launched at buildings, cars and first responders. Fewer than a hundred on-duty officers responded to more than 1,300 calls to 911, and a mass shooting at Boom Island Park wounded five people.
Sommers outlined numerous problem spots since this July 4th’s final minutes that drew Park Police officers:
Boom Island Park, 700 block Sibley Street NE: At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, 40 to 50 teenagers and young adults shot fireworks from the Plymouth Avenue Bridge and targeted people and police officers. A 17-year-old boy launched mortars at a Park Police squad. He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault. In another incident captured on video and posted to Twitter, a WCCO videographer was in the middle of an interview when a large firework exploded on the ground.
3800 block of East Bde Maka Ska Parkway: About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Park Police, Minneapolis police and State Patrol troopers converged on “a large group of teens and young adults involved in a riot at Bde Maka Ska.” This included the targeting of fireworks at people and officers. Park Police stopped a 20-year-old man from Maple Grove and cited for being in a closed park.
Boom Island Park: At 12:42 a.m. Wednesday, a motorist in a Dodge Charger shot fireworks at a Park Police squad before fleeing from the scene.
Columbia Park (800 Columbia Parkway): At 1:35 a.m., Park Police, Minneapolis police and State Patrol troopers responded to a report of a shooting at during a gathering. Park Police located 19-year-old Blejay Gboweay, 19, of Brooklyn Center, who was shot in the back while inside a vehicle. He was transported to HCMC, where his condition was not yet disclosed. No arrests.
Harrison Park (503 Irving Avenue N.): About 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, a 19-year-old woman was shot. She made her own way to HCMC, with a noncritical wound to her right leg. No arrests.
Minnehaha Regional Park (4801 S. Minnehaha Dr.): At 2:38 a.m. Wednesday, Minneapolis police were dispatched about commercial-grade fireworks being launched from a vehicle “into a crowded area within feet of pedestrians,” a police report ready. The driver of a pickup truck was stopped, and four men in their early 20s were arrested: two from Minneapolis and one each from St. Paul and Fridley.
The Minneapolis Fire Department said at was kept busy tackling flare-ups involving burning trash cans and small grass fires over the weekend. While “most seemed to be accidental,” said Assistant Fire Chief Melanie Rucker, some were attributed to misuse of fireworks.
The Minneapolis Police Department and the State Patrol have yet to release any information about what incidents they addressed over the holiday weekend.
In St. Paul, police officers were called about 1 a.m. to the 1600 block of Maryland Avenue on a report of a shooting and “encountered a chaotic scene with a large crowd of people in a parking lot in the area,” said police spokesperson Molly McMillen.
A man was hit by gunfire and taken by emergency responders to Regions Hospital with “life-threatening injuries,” McMillen said. No arrests have been made as of midday Wednesday.