Crime, Law and Justice

Man in custody after reports of shots fired in Loring Park

The Minneapolis Police Department said one adult man is in custody with minor injuries, after multiple reports of shots fired from a Loring Park apartment Monday afternoon.

No other injuries were reported and it’s not clear whether there was gunfire, according to Police Chief Brian O'Hara. 

When officers arrived around 3 p.m., they heard what sounded like gunfire and began evacuating residents from the 10th floor of the apartment. The SWAT team was brought in. During that time, a man had broken the wall between his apartment and hallway and was throwing objects and debris out the window of that floor, O’Hara said.

O’Hara says crisis negotiators communicated with the man, as he moved in and out of the hole leading into the hallway and continued to throw items. Eventually, officers used a Taser and took the man into custody, about an hour and a half after the initial response. O’Hara said no one else was with the man.

“The apartment is in considerable disarray, and the individual we believe has a history of mental illness,” O’Hara said. “He has a minor injury that we believe was sustained from causing damage inside the apartment, and the only crime that we have at this time that he would be booked for is property damage.”

O’Hara said the investigation is ongoing. Officers will apply for a search warrant to more thoroughly search the apartment. No ballistic evidence or a firearm were recovered Monday evening.