Crime, Law and Justice

Boy, 12, fatally shot in Minneapolis in apparent neighborhood dispute

A 12-year-old boy is dead after a shooting Wednesday in north Minneapolis.

Officers were called to Eighth and Aldrich avenues north just after 3:30 p.m. "It sounds like this was a neighborhood dispute that erupted into gun violence,” said police spokesperson Garrett Parten.

The suspect, described by witnesses as a juvenile male, fled in a vehicle, he added.

Family member Shantel Mack told KARE 11 the 12-year-old boy was a "very happy, silly kid, somebody who (would) just turn a negative situation into a positive.”

The boy is at least the third child fatally shot in the city this year.

In May, Trinity Ottoson-Smith was shot while jumping on a trampoline. She was 9 years old. Also that month, 6-year-old Aniya Allen was hit by gunfire while riding her mother's car.

In late April, 10-year-old Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was shot and critically wounded, also while riding in a vehicle.

The groups Spotlight on Crime and Crime Stoppers are offering a $180,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in the earlier incidents.