Boy, 12, fatally shot in Minneapolis’ Sumner-Glenwood neighborhood
A 12-year-old boy died Wednesday after being shot during what police called a "neighborhood dispute" in the Sumner-Glenwood neighborhood on Minneapolis' North Side.
He was shot at 3:41 p.m. in the 800 block of N. Aldrich Avenue, in a cluster of apartment complexes, according to police spokesman Garrett Parten. What began as an argument between two people ended with another boy shooting the victim, whose involvement in the altercation remained unclear. The suspect — who witnesses described to police as being in his midteens — fled before police arrived.
Emergency responders arrived to what Parten called "a chaotic scene" and found the boy in critical condition. He was taken to HCMC, where he died.
The boy's grandmother, Darlisa Williams, identified him as London Michael Bean. He was a loving child who always tried to help her out, she said. "I never would have imagined him being shot," she said. "I know my grandson is in a better place."
London's death marks Minneapolis' 64th homicide of 2021 and the third fatal shooting of a child in the past few months.
A neighbor who belongs to a group called the Minnesota Freedom Fighters heard an argument at N. 8th and Aldrich avenues between two groups of boys, some who were recording the altercation on phones. The neighbor, who goes by the nickname Stepchild, asked that his legal name not be used to protect his safety.
When he heard gunshots, he ran to the scene to try and help the boy. A vehicle driving by the site with a child in the back seat was also hit by at least three bullets, he said.
According to a Star Tribune database, at least 30 children under the age of 18 have been struck by gunfire this year. In particular, the shootings of three young victims in the span of several weeks this spring struck a chord.
On April 30, Ladavionne Garrett Jr., 10, was riding in a car with his parents when a gunman's bullet struck him in the head. He survived, but has been undergoing physical therapy. On May 15, Trinity Ottoson-Smith, 9, was jumping on a trampoline in the Jordan neighborhood when a car pulled into an alley and someone inside fired several shots. She died May 27 at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Aniya Allen, 6, died May 19 at North Memorial, two days after she was shot as her mother drove by N. 36th and Penn avenues. An $180,000 reward has been offered for information in the shootings.
alex.chhith@startribune.com • 612-673-4759
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