(MN) Two wonded in shooting at Hennepin Cty Gov Ctr

[mpthole]

Two Wonded in Shooting

Two Wounded in Shooting at Hennepin County Government Center

Hennepin County Government Center

There has been a shooting in the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis

Two people are wounded on 17th floor of the administration tower.

A woman shot a man in the reception area outside the court that handles harassment cases.

Hennepin County officials say the second victim, a woman, was found in a bathroom. Both victims have been taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center.

Hennepin County Sheriff Pat McGowan held a press conference on the incident. You can see watch the press conference by clicking the links at the right.

A spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Sheriff's office says the woman who was shot was about to make a court appearance when apparently, some sort of dispute arose. It's not clear what sparked the dispute.

A female deputy near the scene quickly took the suspect, described as a woman in her mid-forties, into custody.

While there are metal detectors in the courtrooms, there aren't any in the administrative tower where the shooting happened.

Police say they have the shooter in custody and that the suspect is a woman in her mid forties who was scheduled to be court today. A Deputy assigned to the courts reportedly helped to quickly capture the suspect.

Two floors of the building were locked down and all elevators were stopped.

Employees who work in the building say that they have been concerned about the lack of security in the building.

Chief Judge Kevin Burke says there's "no reason" a gun should have ended up in harassment court. HE said he is "quite tired of people saying the money just isn't there" to improve security at the building.

County officials point out that the building has more than 30 entrances

"This building was built in the seventies and the vision was for people to come here to do business and feel welcome. That was way before there was any notion that people would do such horrific things to other people," said Hennepin County Spokeswoman Carolyn Marinin.

(Copyright 2003 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

Too bad. But the stupidest statement had to be right at the end by Ms. Marinin

That was way before there was any notion that people would do such horrific things to other people

... I guess before the 70's the world was just a love-fest utopia?!?

 

[F4GIB]

Shooter was subject of restraining order.
Shooter was not eligible for a carry permit.
Shooter probably was prohibited to possess a firearm.
Guns are prohibited in the courthouse.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

 

[greyhound]

Mods-

Wanna merge this with my L&P thread? (Might want to delete mine if its the same article). **edit: don't think it is but still merge**

Thanks!

 

[greyhound]

Was this one of the counties with the ultra-anti sheriffs?

I.E. "signing Sub Recuso (under protest)" or "permit seekers are 'soft white guys'"?

If so, look out (makes no difference the CCW status of the shooter, if they can use it, they will).

 

[mpthole]

Greyhound: Yes and no.

Hennepin county is the home of Minneapolis and the Hennepin County Government Center is in the middle of downtown Mpls. I think that the sheriff started out trying to require appointments to turn in the permit application but has since stopped doing that. I'm sure someone else will confirm or straighten me out on that. It was the Washington County (Stillwater, which is east of St. Paul about 20-30 minutes drive) sheriff that signs "sub recuso"; and the Dakota County (St. Paul) sheriff that said "soft, white guys".

 

[Airboss]

Wondering

I bet they have signs up that say
"No Firearms"
Just wondering why the signs didn't work?

 

[Standing Wolf]

Just wondering why the signs didn't work?

Illiterate criminals, no doubt.

 

[Tamara]

A woman shot a man in the reception area

There's a joke there somewhere...

 

[JonnyB]

Tamara:

Not to make light of a tragic situation, but there was a long-running joke on a Minneapolis radio station - WCCO - that was much like that. The exact phrase was a that a "...woman was shot in the fracas." People called in for weeks with updates on her 'condition', ie: "The woman was shot in the fracas, and the bullet is in her yet." and "Physicians believe they will be able to remove it from her eventually."

jb

 

[Andrew Rothman]

The shooter was not the subject of a restraining order; she is a nut job who was seeking restraining orders against the cousin and the attorney she shot.

She is well known to the court; she had filed many frivolous actions over the years. She just had never been violent before.

The court building was posted "no guns," by county court order, but it is unclear whether such an order is legal.

Here's the shooting story: http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4125241.html

Background on the shooter and the courts:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4126729.html

Matt