Police Arrest Four People in Brooklyn Park Shooting Death
Brooklyn Park police are calling a homicide on Wednesday an unusual and particularly concerning crime. The incident happened about 4:20 Wednesday afternoon near MaMa Ti’s restaurant on Brookdale Drive.
A passing officer was flagged down by a group of people who pointed him to a gunshot victim. The officer gave first aid to the unresponsive woman, but she died after she was taken to the hospital. Authorities have not yet released the 42-year-old victim’s name.
“This Was an Open and Broad Daylight Shooting”
Witnesses described the shooter and his vehicle. Cops were able to confirm the description thanks to video from security cameras at the shopping center. Less than five hours later, police arrested a man they believe is the killer.
“This was an open and broad daylight shooting,” said Brooklyn Park Deputy Chief Mark Bruley. “Any shooting’s concerning. But this is specifically concerning that somebody was bold enough to do this in a very busy parking lot.”
Police also arrested three other people. They’re expected to be charged with accessory to murder, Bruley said. Police say some helped the shooter commit the crime, while others tried to help him cover it up.
Area Targeted for Crime Reduction
The area near Brookdale Drive and Zane Avenue used to be a hotbed of violent crime for the city, but police targeted it for crime reduction. As part of that effort, they built a nearby police substation. Bruley says notwithstanding Wednesday’s homicide, the results have been good.
“We have seen violent crime drastically go down in that area. So this is a sad and hopefully an unusual event for that area,” he said. “We expect in the near future we’ll add police officers in that area to help that community heal.”
As of Thursday afternoon, police hadn’t determined a motive or recovered the handgun used in the crime. While they aren’t sure what the relationship between the suspect and the victim was, they say they’re completely certain this was a targeted crime. This is the first homicide of the year for the city.
