Hennepin County Attorney’s Office statement in response to the shooting of four children early Sunday

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office released this statement in response to the shooting of four children early Sunday

The shooting of four children in a car over the weekend is tragic and unacceptable. We must act with urgency to implement effective solutions to gun violence and ensure that no one in our community is victimized in this way.

We have and will continue to work collaboratively with law enforcement, county and community partners to intervene effectively with youth who are engaging in auto theft related behaviors.

Yesterday, MPD inaccurately stated that children under 14 cannot be referred for prosecution. Law enforcement has a variety of pathways to refer youth ages 10 and older to our office, including submitting cases for charging and referring to our Youth Auto Theft Early Intervention Initiative.

Through this Initiative, we have created a new pathway for referral and intervention when police do not have sufficient evidence to submit a case for charging. This is critically important given the low clearance rate of 1.4% in 2024 for auto theft cases in Minneapolis; police often tell us they know who is involved but do not have the evidence to prove it.

None of the children aged 11 to 13 who were shot while riding in a stolen car over the weekend had been referred to our office by law enforcement for youth auto theft early intervention.

Although 81% of youth served by our collaborative Youth Auto Theft Early Intervention Initiative had no new cases submitted, MPD did not refer any youth to this Initiative in the second quarter of 2024 and has only made four referrals in the third quarter to date.

From the beginning, this Initiative has been a collaboration between our office, law enforcement across Hennepin County, and our community. We encourage MPD to collaborate with us to ensure that youth can have access to early and effective interventions.

Our office has not yet received any case submissions for the person or persons responsible for the shooting.

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