Gunshots split the air Saturday morning on the edge of the Southeast Como neighborhood, police said.
Numerous calls to police around 7 a.m. reported a group of males entered a townhouse on the 1000 block of 11th Avenue Southeast and a possible shot was fired, said Lt. Amelia Huffman of Minneapolis police.
She said officers arrived and found bullets, two large kitchen knives and droplets of what appeared to be blood near the front door of the dwelling.
The officers set up a secure perimeter around the townhouse complex and forced the door open. Once inside, they found the suspects had already fled the scene, Huffman said.
Witnesses inside told police a disagreement took place at the home that morning, Huffman said. The acquaintances were asked to leave, but they returned, armed with a handgun and a rifle.
During a scuffle, a woman who lived at the townhouse was struck in the face, possibly by the barrel of the rifle, Huffman said. Two gunshots also rang out during the fight.
Just as the source of the woman’s injury is unclear, so too is the reason for the argument, Huffman said.
But she emphasized this was not a random crime.
“It didn’t involve strangers,” she said. “It involved acquaintances that had been hanging out and drinking together the night before.”
No one else was injured in the incident, Huffman said. No arrests have been made, but the case has been assigned to the assault investigation unit, she said.
Ex-boyfriend arrested
University police arrested a man for burglary Friday at the University Village apartments, police said.
The 18-year-old man had a restraining order against him and is barred from all University buildings via a trespass warning issued earlier this month, said Steve Johnson, deputy chief of University police.
Police arrested the man for burglary because the term is used for “entering with the intent to commit a crime,” not necessarily for stealing property, Johnson said. Since the man admitted he was in violation of the restraining order and trespass warning, it technically constitutes burglary.
In the past year, the man, who is not affiliated with the University, has been in trouble with the University police before.
Many incidents led to his arrest, but in the end, Johnson said, “We arrested the estranged boyfriend who violated a restraining order and had been harassing and threatening.”
Incidents from the past several months led to Friday’s arrest for gross misdemeanor burglary.
Between Apr. 1 and Sept. 3, the man made more than 100 harassing phone calls to a friend of his ex-girlfriend’s, threatening her with violence, Johnson said.
On Sept. 14, Johnson said the man approached his ex-girlfriend and pleaded with her to take him back. Johnson said the woman called 911, but the man took away her phone and wrapped his arms around her legs, holding her captive. The incident led to a restraining order, Johnson said.
On Feb. 7, officers responded to an unwanted male hanging out in a residence hall lobby. The man gave officers a false name and fled, but police apprehended him, found out who he really was and gave him the trespass warning, Johnson said.