The bark is still stripped off a tree in front of Palmer’s Bar on Cedar Avenue, where witnesses said Lorenzo Guffie, 29, crashed and staggered out of his car, wounded by gunshots, just before midnight Sunday.
He then died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
Police said the investigation is underway, and as of Tuesday afternoon, there are no suspects in custody.
Computer science sophomore Joe Krall woke up to gunshots that night, after falling asleep in his apartment off Cedar Avenue, across the street from Palmer’s. He moved in three weeks ago.
“I heard like five shots and then screeching,” he said. “There was one initial burst, and then another afterward Ö I thought I heard a drive-by. Then two minutes later, I see this fire truck careening in.”
Krall said the incident didn’t shake him.
Bar owners and employees wouldn’t comment, except to say that the shooting didn’t happen in the bar, but rather in the parking lot and on the street outside.
The bar is advertised as a classic bar on the West Bank that’s great for people-watching and is known for serving Heineken on tap.
According to police, this was the 24th murder in the city this year.
Police encourage anyone with information to call 612-692-8477.
Three Stabbings at Community Concert on East Bank
Three people were stabbed Memorial Day morning after a fight broke out during a concert at the Profile Center off University Avenue, between 25th and 27th avenues according to a police report.
No one was seriously wounded.
The report stated a group of young males started to fight on the dance floor before the stabbings occurred.
According to the report, University police shot 33 PAVA rounds, or non-lethal pepper spray projectiles, into the crowd of approximately 400 people as the crowd spilled out the doors.
Haji Warsame, 20, of Minneapolis, said he was in the middle of the dance floor when a fight broke out and someone stabbed him three times.
“It was pretty much little kids (that stabbed me),” he said, adding that security workers allowed minors into the concert.
He said he was not severely wounded.
Patrick Kellis, an attorney who owns the Profile Center, said one of the most famous Somali singers, Hassan Samatar, was booked for the night.
He said the concert had no age restrictions, but was intended for an older audience. However, neighborhood kids broke down a side door to get in.
Kellis said he usually just rented the space out for weddings, but once a month he would book a concert, which he said will no longer happen.
“Our prime concern is to provide a safe and secure place,” he said. “We spent a lot of money on police and a lot of money on security.”
Kellis said four off-duty Minneapolis police officers were at the concert.
Police have made no arrests.
