19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting late Monday night in south Minneapolis will likely die Tuesday, according to her aunt.
Tameka Swoop is in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center following the shooting, which happened shortly before 10 p.m. at 3232 Columbus Ave. S.
Swoop was driven to Abbott Northwestern before she was transferred to HCMC.
In an exclusive interview with FOX 9 News, Swoop’s aunt, Lori Madison, said her niece was outside her house when the drive-by shooting occurred. She said Swoop was an innocent bystander and does not know who the shooter was or who the intended target was.
Madison said about five bullets sprayed the house, one hitting Swoop in the head.
Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer said there is conflicting information in the police report as to what happened.
No suspects are in custody. It’s unknown whether or not the suspect and victims knew each other or if the shooting was gang-related.
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Wednesday, 27 April 2011
19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting late Monday night in south Minneapolis will likely die
Police blocked off streets and called in K-9 units as they searched for a shooting suspect Tuesday night in Washington
Police blocked off streets and called in K-9 units as they searched for a shooting suspect Tuesday night in Washington.
A man was shot on Sycamore Street around 7:30 p.m., police said. A witness described multiple shots being fired.
The shooter fled the scene in a white SUV, which was abandoned a few blocks away, according to investigators. That's where police closed several streets and set up a perimeter as they searched for the suspect. The search was called off shortly before 10 p.m.
The victim was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital.
Police have arrested a second suspect for a murder on Houston's south side in March, but are still looking for additional shooters.
Levelle Dequan Vigne, 18, is in custody and charged with murder. One other suspect, Anthony R. Jenkins, 21, was arrested on April 12 and is also charged with murder in the same court.
Police say officers responded to a shooting call in the parking lot of the Sunflower Terrace Apartments and found a vehicle that had collided with two other vehicles parked in the lot. Officers approached the vehicle and found Craig Robertson, 18, slumped over in the front passenger's seat. Robertson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing a truck drive by them and someone firing shots at them. Moments later, a car drove by and someone from inside fired shots at Robertson's vehicle. The suspects in both vehicles then fled the scene. The pickup truck used in the shooting was recovered a day after the shooting in the 6700 block of Dumble.
The investigation developed information on Jenkins being one suspect in the case and he was arrested two weeks ago. Further investigation identified Vigne as a second suspect in this case. He was arrested on April 25 without incident. He has admitted to investigators his involvement in this incident.
Investigators believe there are other unidentified suspects involved in the shooting.
Minneapolis man convicted of murder in drive-by shooting
jury convicted a Minneapolis man of murder on Tuesday as part of a prosecution credited largely to the city's ShotSpotter camera system.
After deliberating about two hours, the Hennepin County jury convicted Christopher James Hayes, 24, of first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting and of second-degree intentional murder. The jury acquitted him of first-degree premeditated murder.
The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hayes was sentenced after the verdict.
He was charged in the September 2010 shooting death of Christopher Roy de Ronde, 21, of Bloomington, whose body was found on a sidewalk in north Minneapolis.
The victim was shot in broad daylight at Colfax and 30th Avenues N.. Authorities said Hayes' actions and those of another man speeding from the scene were recorded by the city's ShotSpotter system of cameras and microphones that detects and records video of the scenes of gunshots.
Police arrested three suspects of an April 16 drive-by shooting
Police arrested three suspects of an April 16 drive-by shooting — two after they fled from a wrecked car Tuesday and a third at a school in northeast Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City police take two suspects into custody near NE 102 and Broadway after a short foot chase. The pair were wanted in connection with a drive-by shooting in northeast Oklahoma City on April 16, and a third was arrested at a northeast Oklahoma City school. Steve Gooch - The Oklahoman
Officers arrest 2 drive-by shooting suspects
Tyrel James, 17, was arrested at Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth Academy on a warrant of using a vehicle to facilitate a drive-by shooting, Oklahoma City police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow said.
Johnathan Bledsoe, 19, was arrested on a felony complaint of eluding an officer, possession of a controlled dangerous substance on school property and possession of a firearm of school property.
Elijah Crutcher, 18, was arrested on complaints of possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a controlled dangerous substance on school property.
Wardlow said investigators are determining whether an assault on an officer complaint will added since Bledsoe, who was driving the car that wrecked, may have attempted to hit an officer with the car.
She said all three are students at the academy, and that's where police went to find them.
Bledsoe and Crutcher drove away from the school and then fled on foot after wrecking the car near Hefner and Kelley, Wardlow said. They were apprehended about 1:45 p.m. near NE 102 and Broadway Extension with the help of a K9 unit and police helicopter.
They drive-by shooting happened April 16 in the 200 block of NW 83. Witnesses said the driver fired a semi-automatic weapon from the driver's side window while the front passenger was firing over the roof of the westbound car in a southeasterly direction, according to the police report.
Several shell casings were found near NW 84 and Harvey Avenue.
The victim, identified only as Adrian Thomas, arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds and was taken into surgery, the report states.
Belleville police are investigating four armed robberies and one drive-by shooting
Belleville police are investigating four armed robberies and one drive-by shooting that have occurred in the past week but have resulted in no arrests.
The latest was reported at 12:17 a.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of North High Street near downtown Belleville.
A man's trip to take out the trash took a bad turn when he encountered a 21-year-old acquaintance and an unknown man who were waiting for him. The unknown man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim's head. He then ordered the victim to empty his pockets and stole his cell phone.
The armed suspect then told the victim to take him to the victim's "crib." The victim, instead, took the man to a different apartment. When no one answered the door, the suspect shot the victim once in the leg and fled the scene.
The bullet traveled though the bottom of the doorway into another apartment. No other injuries were reported and the shooting victim was treated and released from an area hospital.
No further description of either suspect was released by police.
Meanwhile, a passenger in a white vehicle was spotted shooting out of the passenger side window about 4 p.m. Monday in the area of Bellevue Park. That vehicle had been chasing a silver vehicle around the park.
Witnesses said they heard eight to nine shots fired and described the shooter as a man in a white shirt.
"Fortunately, no injuries or damages were reported to us," Capt. Don Sax said.
Several people in the area of the park were interviewed but no one has been arrested in that case and no further descriptions of the suspect or suspects were released.
Police have released few details about the shootings and the other armed robberies.
Sax did not know of any connections between the cases.
"Obviously (the incidents) put us on edge," Sax said. "(But) the detectives have an incredibly high solvability rate."
The other unsolved cases include:
* April 21: Two men forced a woman into her home at gunpoint in the 1100 block of Lilac and robbed her just before 1 p.m. The suspects were only described as black males, one wearing a jogging suit and another wearing a dark hoodie and blue jeans. They escaped in a Jeep Liberty.
* Saturday: A man was robbed at gunpoint just before midnight while sitting in his gold 2001 Mitsubishi Galant on the east side of McDonald's at 7301 Westfield Plaza Drive. The two suspects were described as males he knew from childhood. They drove off with the victim's car.
* Sunday: A man was robbed at gunpoint by two men between the ages of 18 and 20 while he was parked in Kmart's parking lot at 7230 Westfield Plaza. A cell phone and credit cards were stolen.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Two teenage siblings arrested in the gunshot slaying of a Spokane man remain jailed on $1 million bond after appearing in court Monday.
Breeanna C. Sims, 19, and Justice E. Sims, 18, faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree arson, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rendering criminal assistance for the death of 22-year-old Nicholas J. Thoreson, who was found shot to death April 13 in the burning trunk of his 1987 Ford Thunderbird at Forker and Bigelow Gulch roads.
Taylor J. Wolf, 20, who was arrested 22 hours after Thoreson's body was found, is jailed on a second-degree murder charge but expected to soon face the same charges as the Sims, authorities say.
Breeanna Sims was arrested Friday afgter they followed her to Forker and Bigelow Gluch, where she was looking for evidence. A sheriff's dog led detectives to a .38 caliber pistol and a sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun. The pistol is believed to have been used to kill Thoreson.
Justice Sims was arrested after leaving his apartment in north Spokane, where detectives had set up surveillance. He flashed a hand sign at supporters before being led out of District Court after his first appearance Monday.
No motive for the slaying has been released. Wolf has ties to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and worked briefly at Fessco Fleet & Marine with the gang's enforcer, Ricky Jenks, who is jailed on federal guns charges. Investigators haven't said if Thoreson's murder is related to the Hells Angels.
Affidavits detailing the case remain sealed, though Spokane County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan said there are no other suspects. A status conference for the case is set for April 21.
Thoreson was the father of an 11-month-old baby. Friends say he knew Wolf through a job corps program.
Thoreson's mother, girlfriend and other friends attended Monday's hearing but declined comment.
Friday, 15 April 2011
A California jury that convicted a gunman for the gang hate killing of a black teenager meets next week to decide if he will face the death penalty.
Jurors on Monday found 31-year-old Daniel Murillo Salgado guilty of murder for the racially motivated car-to-car shooting death of 13-year-old Markess Lancaster in Riverside in October 2002. The jury also found the shooting was a hate crime.
The same jury begins hearing testimony in the penalty phase of trial on April 21.
Investigators tell the Riverside Press-Enterprise that Lancaster was targeted by a Hispanic gang because he was black and the killers wrongly believed he and others with him were rival gang members.
Three other defendants have either been convicted or pleaded guilty.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Guns and gangs unit probe gun found in checked bags
A 47-year-old Alberta man could face up to three years in jail as well as numerous fines stemming from his arrest at the Ottawa International Airport. John Robert Laponsée was arrested Monday after an unloaded .22 calibre firearm was discovered in his checked baggage during a routine screening. Laponsée was scheduled to be on an Alberta-bound flight. He told police he was in Ottawa visiting his mother. Police said Laponsée was not attempting to bring the gun on board the plane, but noted the gun was not registered. Sgt. Ken Bryden of the Ottawa Guns and Gangs unit said police were still investigating Laponsee's intentions and how he came to be in possession of the handgun. Laponsée faces five charges, one with a minimum three-year jail sentence. Bryden said this is the first time he has been called to the airport for this type of offence.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Police arrested three Vineland men on weapons charges after a drive-by shooting outside a house on the 400 block of Cherry Street.
Police responded to the scene at 6:36 p.m. Tuesday. Several people were on the porch, but no injuries were reported. Witnesses told police the gunshots were fired at the house from a white Acura that fled west on Cherry Street.
Members of the city's Street Crimes Unit spotted a vehicle matching the description at West and Chestnut avenues with three occupants. When the officers tried to pull over the car, it took off with the officers in pursuit.
Police pursued the car down several side streets. At one point, officers said, they saw something tossed from car. Police said they recovered the item, which was a handgun.
A short time later, the suspects' vehicle slowed down, police said. The backseat passenger, 21-year-old Thomas Profit Jr. of the 700 block of Humbert Street, jumped out the car and ran away. He was captured after a brief chase, police said.
The suspect behind the wheel of the car then drove away in an attempt to elude the officer, but the vehicle crashed into a tree at West and Foster avenues, police said.
The driver, Marlin Milbourne, 19, of the 300 block of Rainbow Lane, and passenger Thareick Archer, 20, of the 400 block of Foster Avenue, got out of the car and ran in opposite directions, police said.
Police said they caught Milbourne and Archer after a brief foot chase by patrol units that had converged on the area.
All three men were charged with aggravated assault, two weapons offenses, obstruction and resisting arrest. Milbourne also was charged with eluding.
Each man was being held in Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 cash bail.
houseful of people on the northeast side narrowly escaped a hail of bullets from a drive-by shooting early Friday morning.
houseful of people on the northeast side narrowly escaped a hail of bullets from a drive-by shooting early Friday morning.
The shots tore through the house and broke windows. SAPD officers said the bullets came within inches of family members as they slept.
Police said 10 gunshots rang out just after midnight in the 5300 block of El Medano Street.
A car in the driveway and the house itself were struck multiple times. Police said bullets tore through the home, where 10 people, including four small children, were sleeping.
The homeowner told police one bullet almost hit him in the head.
Police said the suspects used a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Detectives found 10 shell casings in the street.
Police are still searching for the suspects.
Police said a man was shot at a BBQ on N. Hancock Ave. near Columbia St. Saturday.
Neighbors told KRDO Newschannel13 that a large group of people, including children, were having a party when a fight broke out at about 7:30 p.m. Police got a call that shots were fired in the area, and soon after, a shooting victim arrived at Memorial Hospital. Police said the man was driven there by friends or family, not taken by ambulance.
Police said that when they arrived at the home, people at the party had scattered, and that they got conflicting stories from people at the house. Police could not provide any suspect description.
The CSPD Major Crimes Unit arrived at the home at about 10:00 p.m., and N. Hancock was blocked off with crime tape from Columbia St. to Janes Ln.
Two teenagers were found shot and wounded in an alley after an apparent drive-by shooting
Two teenagers were found shot and wounded in an alley after an apparent drive-by shooting near a Santa Ana high school.
The Orange County Register reports that when police responded to a report of a fight Friday afternoon at a parking lot near Century High School, it had been broken up.
Officers discovered the wounded teens in a nearby alley. A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old suffered shots to the leg and the buttocks, respectively, but the wounds were not life threatening.
Cpl. Anthony Bertagna says a white Lincoln was seen circling the area, firing rounds at the victims.
The shooting is under investigation.