Police investigating after 11-year-old shot, killed in Minneapolis

Minneapolis police are investigating after an 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in a city park Monday afternoon.

In a news release, the Minneapolis Police Department said officers were called to Folwell Park in north Minneapolis just after 2 p.m. Monday on reports of gunfire. 

While police were responding, a driver flagged down an officer near Penn and Dowling avenues. He had the injured boy in the back of his car and told police he was on the way to the hospital. The driver said he had heard cries for help and found the boy outside his home, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Police and other first responders attempted lifesaving measures, but the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the department is investigating and looking for help from the public. 

“I cannot emphasize enough how terrible it is to have an 11-year-old boy shot and killed in the middle of the day,” O’Hara said. “We need anyone with information to come forward so we can bring some sense of justice to this child’s family.”

Witnesses told police that the gunfire happened within the park, and they reported seeing three vehicles driving through the park and an adjacent parking lot at the time.

Authorities have not yet released the boy’s name.