Four children were shot and wounded, one of them critically, while allegedly driving a stolen vehicle in Minneapolis on Sunday, police said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said during a press conference Sunday that officers were responding to ShotSpotter alerts of shots fired shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday when a 911 caller reported finding a vehicle with multiple people inside suffering gunshot wounds.
There were five children in the stolen vehicle, four of whom were shot, O'Hara said. The two injured boys and two injured girls, ages 11–14, were transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. One of the girls was shot in the head and was in critical condition, O'Hara said. The others sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The fifth child, the driver, was detained at the scene when officers learned the vehicle was stolen, but the juvenile was released to his parents after officers learned he was just 11 years old.
"Four kids shot between [the ages] 11 and 14 is outrageous and everyone should be up in arms over it. The police are doing everything that we can in response to this, but we can't keep responding after the fact," O'Hara said
According to a preliminary investigation, police believe the children were driving a stolen Kia when a dark-colored sedan began following them. Someone in the sedan shot at the children in the Kia with "fully automatic gunfire," O'Hara said. At least 30 shell casings were collected by police.
"We believe even more rounds were fired because some of those casings may have been inside the suspect vehicle," O'Hara said.
Two of the juveniles were arrested less than two weeks ago for being inside a stolen vehicle, O'Hara said. The incident comes as police have warned of a renewed uptick in thefts of Kias and Hyundais, after thefts had dropped over the past year.
"What's most notable over the course of the year is that while there's fewer of these cars being stolen, the activity that these juveniles are involved with has become more and more brazen," O'Hara said. "There have been more aggravated assaults, more robberies, more hit and runs, more serious crimes more frequently committed by those individuals who were involved in the theft of these cars. So it's very, very concerning."
Police said the assailant who opened fire on the children has not been identified or apprehended, and the incident remains under investigation.
--with reporting by TMX
