Minneapolis Mass Shooting Suspect Appears in Court

The 24-year-old suspect charged with murder and attempted murder in the Minneapolis mass shooting last weekend is expected in court Thursday, days after a gun battle outside a nightclub left seven wounded and two dead, including a bystander killed hours before his college graduation.

Jawan C. Carroll, who prosecutors say is a member of the North Minneapolis street gang known as the “Tres Tres,” was charged with two counts of intentional second-degree murder for fatally shooting 21-year-old Charlie Johnson of Golden Valley and 24-year-old Christopher Jones of Brooklyn Park. He also faces seven counts of attempted second-degree murder.

Surveillance video obtained by police shows “scores of individuals” were standing or walking on the sidewalk in front of Monarch nightclub located at 322 First Ave. N. when the shooting began before 2 a.m. on May 22. {snip}

Johnson, a University of St. Thomas student, and another individual were not involved with the activities at the club, according to the complaint, and had been walking through the area and had stepped out of an alley and onto the sidewalk just as the shooting began.

Johnson was fatally shot in the back while running away down the sidewalk. An autopsy shows he died from a single gunshot wound to the upper back that traveled into his chest, the complaint says.

{snip}

“He was just trying to celebrate his college graduation with his buddies, trying to walk home, and was gunned down on the streets of what now is a broken city that I don’t know that I can go back into,” Charlie’s father, Greg Johnson, told KARE earlier this week.

{snip}

In the nightclub mass shooting, a confrontation was captured on surveillance video showing that Carroll and two associates had a verbal exchange with Jones’ group of companions at 1:57 a.m. before a member of Carroll’s group punched Jones in the head, the complaint says.

Carroll then pulled out a gun and began shooting at Jones when he was less than 5 feet away. {snip}

The two men continued shooting at one another, with Carroll aiming north down the sidewalk at Jones, and Jones firing back southbound at Carroll. Jones eventually collapsed and died. {snip}

Forensic examination and analysis of the bullets’ trajectory determined that Carroll’s shooting killed both Jones and Johnson and wounded the seven other victims, the complaint says.

{snip}

According to police data, there have been at least 32 homicides in the city so far this year. 2020 saw 84 homicides, while there were 48 in 2019. More than 190 people have been killed or wounded in shootings this year – compared to the 75 killed or wounded by this point of 2020.