Hennepin County attorney, MPD chief clash in wake of youth shooting

A Minneapolis shooting that injured four children inside a stolen vehicle early Sunday has amplified disagreements between Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

According to Minneapolis police, the children, between the ages of 11 and 14, were shot near West Broadway and Girard Avenue. O’Hara on Wednesday confirmed all four children, including one girl who was shot in the head, are expected to survive.

Authorities have not revealed details regarding potential suspects, but O’Hara confirmed there was a "barrage" of automatic gunfire during the drive-by attack, which spanned approximately two blocks.

A fifth child inside the stolen Kia was uninjured, police said. According to investigators, the Kia was followed by a sedan before one or more suspects inside the sedan opened fire.

The clash between Moriarty and O’Hara came to light Monday afternoon when the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) released a statement regarding the shooting.

“The shooting of four children in a car over the weekend is tragic and unacceptable,” the statement reads. “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.”

The statement continues: “Yesterday, Chief O’Hara 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.”

Moriarty says that 81% of youths referred to its Youth Auto Theft Early Intervention Initiative have not had any new charges a year later, and has praised the program for helping to reduce carjacking and auto theft, which has decline in the Twin Cities over the past year.

The HCAO claims that none of the children who were shot Sunday had been referred for the program, and claims that 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."

The statement concludes: “Our office has not yet received any case submissions for the person or persons responsible for the shooting.”

O'Hara responds

O’Hara held a press conference Monday afternoon to respond to the HCAO’s statement.

According to O'Hara, investigators sent two cases to the HCAO on Aug. 9 seeking felony-level auto theft charges against two of the youths later shot inside the vehicle.

“The kids weren’t charged, they weren’t diverted, and despite pleas from their parents – begging for help, begging for them to be detained – they were let back out into the street, into the same environment to commit more crimes, which they did over the weekend," O'Hara said.

The HCAO's statement does not address this, but rather only said police have not referred any cases involving "the person or persons responsible for the shooting."

According to O'Hara, the HCAO has not yet responded to the two cases submitted Aug. 9.

Additionally, O'Hara said two of the youth involved in Sunday's shooting are in the HCAO's Youth Group Violence Intervention program, which guides young people away from group-involved violence.

Related: Violent crime in Minnesota continued to decline in 2023, report finds