A Minneapolis high-rise was trying to get safer. A mass shooting set it back

National admin September 5, 2026 0 Comments

A Minneapolis high-rise was trying to get safer. A mass shooting set it back

MINNEAPOLIS – The mass shooting that killed two and injured several others this week at Shoreline Plaza in downtown Minneapolis has been a tragic step backward for a neighborhood trying to improve safety. It also thwarts efforts by a building owner who was proactively trying to remove tenants engaged in unruly conduct and criminal activity.

Shoreline residents Dale Henry Spry and Muse Abdi Afrahwere killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting. Suspect Carlton Neal Johnson II also died in a gunfight with police. The wounded included a woman who had been in a relationship with Johnson, three police officers and two apartment workers.

It’s the third major incident at the property over the past three years. Two men were shot and killed last year after fighting in the lobby. In 2024, SWAT officers responded to a shooting call and arrested a 34-year-old man with a history of mental illness who was later charged with property damage.

Formerly known as Loring Towers, its acquisition by New York real estate company Related Companies in 2018 led not only to a rebrand in name, but also to a period of palpable reinvestment in security.

The new owners upgraded locks, cameras and lights, made sure the people living there held leases and hired a new lawyer to aggressively pursue evictions against tenants who posed a threat to the building’s safety.

Neighbors said they noticed the changes.

Sam Turner, owner of the nearby Nicollet Diner, has been critical of past criminal activity. Prior to the shootings, he said the property hadn’t been a recent problem.

“They more or less cleaned it up,” Turner said. “They were doing everything that they were supposed to do, and they were working the system, but the system failed them.”

Some tenants, however, say management should have been doing more. Rico Avent moved into the building five years ago and spoke often with building officials about safety issues.

“I told them we need armed security here,” he said. “They didn’t listen.”

Prior to this, shootings in Loring Park were on the decline, tracking with the gradual ebbing of gun violence throughout Minneapolis, which reached a high of 650 victims in 2021. Citywide, there’s been a 20% decrease in shooting victims this year compared to last, falling even below pre-pandemic levels.

More evictions

Property management had received complaints about Johnson harassing other residents as early as January. They initiated eviction proceedings in June, when he allegedly made threats of gun violence to other residents and staff. The case had been set for trial on Sept. 11.

He was one of several tenants facing eviction over their behavior. Court records show that the company filed 20 eviction notices this year, putting it on pace to exceed last year’s 21.

Court records cite reasons ranging from nonpayment of rent to property damage and assault. In recent years tenants have been accused of being intoxicated in common areas, making death threats, possessing weapons and getting into fights. In 2025 one tenant allegedly sexually assaulted someone in a hallway. In May, a resident stabbed another tenant’s guest, according to court records.

City data shows there have been more than 1,200 emergency calls to the property over the past six years. And while the bulk of the calls involved nuisance complaints, medical issues, behavioral crises and other disturbances, about 17% reported domestic disputes, assaults and other violent incidents this year, an uptick from last year’s rates.

Related Companies completed a $11 million renovation of Shoreline Plaza in 2022 that included new flooring, lighting and fixtures, plus upgrades to building common areas and security features. The rehab was financed partially by federal low-income housing tax credits and housing revenue bonds issued by the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

All of the property’s 230 units had commitments from Section 8, according to a 2021 city report. Under the federal program, which is restricted to low-income individuals, tenants typically pay about 30% of their income in rent, and the government subsidizes the rest.

Shoreline is one of several densely stacked low-income high-rises that have received a heavy police presence since 2020. There have been more than 3,000 police calls to two other buildings in the immediate vicinity over the past six years.

Jana Metge, executive coordinator of Loring Park’s neighborhood association, views the recent shootings as isolated episodes within a broader pattern of recovery for downtown neighborhoods, which were hard hit during COVID-19 and Operation Metro Surge.

Recently, Loring Park’s top livability problems had more to do with hand-to-hand drug dealing and sidewalk gambling – not gun violence, she said.

“Ever since [Related Companies] came in and turned things around in that building, we just have not had any issues that have come to the community or have come up when we’ve had corridor meetings,” Metge said.

Council Member Elizabeth Shaffer cut short her vacation in Norway after the shooting happened. Shaffer said Loring Park has been dealing with a slate of older buildings with unresponsive landlords, water intrusion and failing heat in winter, but that Shoreline Plaza wasn’t one of the buildings that constituents complained to her about.

With the neighborhood partitioned by police tape for hours after the shooting, some neighbors gathered on blankets in Loring’s namesake park to process the events of the evening together.

Kenton Briggs, a board member of Citizens for a Loring Park Community, said it reminded him of the night Alex Pretti, the anti-ICE protester, was killed. That was the last time neighbors spontaneously gathered in mutual support.

“It’s very frustrating, especially having something happen so close to home and feeling like it’s, in a way, hopeless,” Briggs said. “This is not just about Loring Park, I want to be clear. This is an American issue. This is society at large.”

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(Tim Harlow and MaryJo Webster of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 3:38 PM.