Charges: Slain off-duty Eagan firefighter was caught in crossfire between two groups of shooters

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A Monticello, Minn., man has been arrested and charged in last week’s fatal shooting of an off-duty Eagan and Eden Prairie firefighter who prosecutors say was caught in the crossfire between two groups that exchanged more than 60 rounds of gunfire in a south Minneapolis parking lot.

Marquise Trevone Hammonds-Ford, 28, was charged in Hennepin County District Court last week with first-degree riot resulting in death and two counts of illegal gun possession in connection with the May 5 shooting of 40-year-old Joseph Charles Johns behind the former Whiskey Junction bar in the 900 block of Cedar Avenue South.

Johns was a full-time firefighter with Eagan since 2020. He was also a duty call firefighter part-time in Eden Prairie, where he lived, since 2015.

Hammonds-Ford was arrested Monday and appeared in court Tuesday. He remained jailed in lieu of $1 million.

Hammonds-Ford is a member of the YNT criminal street gang of north Minneapolis, the charges say. At the time of the shooting, he was on supervised probation on an illegal gun-possession conviction out of Hennepin County.

According to the criminal complaint:

Minneapolis police responded to the area around 12:30 a.m. May 5 after a call of a shooting with two people injured. They found Johns, who was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Officers collected 63 discharged cartridge casings, which were found in clusters on both sides of the street in front of the bar.

Officers spoke to witnesses and learned that prior to the shooting hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a motorcycle club.

Evidence, including video surveillance, showed that Johns was shot as two groups exchanged gunfire from opposite sides of the street. Based on a witness account, Johns was directing traffic when the gunfight erupted, catching him in the crossfire.

The shootout was prompted by Hammonds-Ford, who pointed his handgun, which was modified into an automatic weapon, at an upward angle and let off a rapid succession of gunshots. Numerous others from both groups began shooting handguns across the street at each other.

When the shooting stopped, Hammonds-Ford and others sped off and dropped off an injured associate at HCMC.

Forensic testing showed that shots were fired by seven guns: six 9mm firearms and one 10mm firearm.

The bullet recovered from Johns’ chest was fired from a 9mm handgun.

Investigators created a map of the crime scene that showed a cluster of four 10mm cartridge casings in the exact spot where Hammonds-Ford fired his initial barrage of gunfire.

“The investigation into other suspects responsible for the death of (Johns) is ongoing,” the complaint states.

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