A 16-year-old girl was killed and five others injured on Sept. 14 when a female driver drove an SUV through a crowd after a fight in downtown Minneapolis.
Minneapolis police responded to a hit-and-run call around 12:23 a.m. on Saturday near Fifth Street North and Hennepin Avenue. Preliminary investigation showed that a fight broke out between teenagers at the location before 911 was called. The suspect was present during the affray and, sometime later, got into the SUV and drove it into a crowd of at least a dozen people, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news briefing.
The 22-year-old female suspect then drove out of the downtown area followed by witnesses, and was arrested on the 2300 block of Bryant Avenue North an hour after the incident, police said.
Six people were injured in the collision and transported to Hennepin Healthcare Hospital, according to a news release from the Minneapolis Police Department
A 16-year-old girl was taken to hospital where she later died. Police said a 29-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in a critical condition. Two 14-year-old girls and two men, aged 24 and 28, were treated for minor injuries.
“The video of this incident is absolutely horrific. There aren’t words to describe how tragic and senseless it is to lose a 16-year-old female over something like this. However, we are thankful because it’s clear we could have had more fatalities and more people injured,” O’Hara said.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into Hennepin County Jail after the incident early Saturday, the report states.
Authorities are investigating the incident to determine the motive, but the police chief said there was no question that the suspect used the vehicle to target the victims.
“This was clearly not random. This individual was present for that fight that was happening with the crowd of people—so clearly targeted by this person. As senseless and inexplainable as that is, it is not random,” O’Hara said.
Police said the suspect does have a record, but not anything significant.
Authorities are also investigating the fight that occurred before the incident, as O’Hara reported that at least one female was significantly injured before being hit by the SUV.
Police asked people from the community to contact Crime Stoppers with any information they might have regarding this incident.