Children in the line of fire in recent Mpls shootings
Minneapolis police investigators are still looking for the person(s) who shot and wounded a pregnant woman, a 14-month-old baby and a 17-year-old boy last week on the city's north side. At a vigil held near the site of the shooting, community leaders pleaded for witnesses to come forward and help police find who fired the gun.
Hennepin County court records show a series of other instances over the last month where police say children have been endangered by the presence of guns and gunfire.
On Aug. 19, Minneapolis police say Jermaine Deangelo Jefferson, 28, got into an argument with a woman at a house on the 3500 block of Fremont Ave. N. According to the charges recently filed in Hennepin County District Court, Jefferson left the front porch of the house, and retrieved a MasterPiece Arms 9 mm handgun from the back seat of his truck and fired six or seven shots "in the direction" of the house. The complaint also says two young children were in the back seat of the truck at the time. The children's mother, Jefferson's girlfriend, Nicole Denise Dorsey, 26 was also in the truck. Police say there were three children ages four, seven and seven, inside the house targeted by Jefferson. No one in the house was hit. Jefferson was charged with multiple second degree assault charges. Due to a felony conviction on his record, Jefferson was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Dorsey was charged with multiple charges for aiding and abetting a drive by shooting, assault and two counts of endangerment of a child.
On July 30, Minneapolis police searched a residence on Plymouth Ave. N. and found a loaded, .22-caliber pistol stashed behind a throw pillow on a couch. Investigators noted the gun was within reach of a two-year-old girl who lived there. Clinton Reginald Brown, 19, was arrested and charged with being a prohibited person with a firearm and child endangerment.
On Aug. 2, police searched a home on Fremont Ave N. and found an AK-47, Remington .22-caliber rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun as well as dozens of rounds of ammunition stored in socks. According to a search warrant, there were seven young men - many of them felons - in the house, as well as three children under the age of 10. Police say they found one of the rifles behind the dryer in the basement.
On July 20, several people called 911 to report a group of young men who fired a gun from a home on the 900 block of 41st Ave. N at a passing vehicle. Police say the incident took place in broad daylight in the presence of children. According to court documents, the address is the home of a documented member of the Skitz Squad street gang.
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