The encampment, on private land, is the subject of a pending lawsuit by Minneapolis City Council.

Seven people have been injured in a mass shooting at a south Minneapolis homeless encampment that the city has been attempting to shut down.

Gunfire erupted at the encampment at around 10 p.m. and sparked a major emergency response to East Lake Street and 28th Avenue South.

Two of the victims – a man and a woman – suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds to the head.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the evidence indicates that gunfire was exchanged by at least two people, with around 30 shell casings found at the scene.

It marked the second mass shooting in Minneapolis on Monday alone, with five people wounded in an afternoon incident near the I-35W and Lake Street Transit Station, about two miles away from the shooting on Monday evening.

It's not known at this time whether the two shootings are related. As of Tuesday morning, no arrests have been made in either incident.

Frey says encampment will be shut down

The encampment is on a parking lot behind a vacant building owned by Hamoudi Sabri, who invited dozens of unhoused people to set up their tents on his land in July.

Last week, Minneapolis City Council voted to sue Sabri, with the city saying it is unsafe for those living in the encampment as well as nearby residents, businesses and schools.

Sabri, who has rejected requests to shut down the encampment, described the lawsuit as "political theater at the expense of real solutions," saying for too long the city has "shuffled" the homeless population from site to site.

“This is a whole lot worse than a nuisance,” an exasperated Mayor Jacob Frey said during an overnight news conference. “This is a danger to the community. They deserve better.”

In an overnight press conference, Mayor Jacob Frey described the encampment as a "danger to the community" and said the city would now be shutting it down.

"If he wants to sue us, he can," Frey said of Sabri.

In a statement, Sabri said: "This is a solemn and tragic moment for Minneapolis. My message is simple: every victim of violence — whether by gunfire, by poverty, or by being forced to live in unsafe places — deserves equal care, dignity, and urgency.

He continued to say the Lake Street corridor has been "abandoned" by city leadership, which he argues does not take homelessness seriously.

"If this city truly treated these shootings like the emergencies they are, people would already see grief and trauma counselors on the ground. We would see a citywide emergency response — with outreach workers, harm reduction teams, and housing navigators deployed. We would see safe places to stay opened immediately — hotels, Navigation Centers, emergency shelter beds.

"Instead, the Mayor’s answer is the same tired move we’ve seen for years: displacement. Bulldoze people’s tents, fence off their space, and call it leadership. But it isn’t leadership. It’s an illusion of control designed to make the problem less visible, not less deadly."

Frey later issued a longer statement, reading: "Making encampments more 'permanent' is not harm reduction – it entrenches harm. Our obligation is to help people transition to safer, healthier alternatives.

"The City’s Homeless Response team will continue to go out daily, offering shelter and resources. Our Mobile Medical Unit will continue to go out daily, providing health care and opioid resources. The Minneapolis Police Department will continue to respond to areas to ensure tents aren’t being set up. And we will continue to work with our partners at the County to connect people to housing.

"After we offer those services, encampments must be closed. We cannot allow them to persist when violence, danger, and tragedy are the norm. More lives will be lost if we do."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5776178&forum_id=2:#49276016)