A man died Friday morning after Minneapolis police found him with life-threatening gunshot wounds in the driver's seat of a car in the 2400 block of 18th Avenue South, near Holy Rosary Catholic Church in the East Phillips neighborhood. Officers provided aid at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead there. No arrests have been made, and police have not released his identity.
According to FOX 9, Minneapolis police responded to the area off East 24th Street and 18th Avenue South after a ShotSpotter activation and 911 calls reporting gunfire. Officers arriving at the scene discovered the man shot inside the vehicle, and despite efforts to save him, he could not be revived. As CBS News reported, the shooting scene sat just steps from the church, a detail that underscores how close the violence unfolded to a neighborhood landmark.
Authorities have secured the area, canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses, and collected evidence, but they say they are still working to determine what led up to the shooting. Police have asked anyone with information to contact Minneapolis police or submit an anonymous CrimeStoppers tip. Under Minnesota law, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office must complete a medicolegal death investigation before the man's identity, cause, and manner of death can be officially confirmed, per the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
A Block That Has Seen This Before
Friday's shooting is not the first act of deadly violence on this stretch of 18th Avenue South. In February 2025, a 31-year-old man was killed in a close-range shooting on the same 2400 block, after which three to four suspects fled on foot, according to FOX 9. Two men were also critically injured in a November 2021 shooting inside a home on the block near East Phillips Park, as reported by KARE 11.
Further back, an overnight shooting near Cedar Field Park on the same block left one person dead and another injured in July 2020, according to CBS Minnesota. Taken together, the incidents point to a persistent pattern of gun violence along this particular corridor of East Phillips over the past several years.
Citywide Homicides Are Down, But East Phillips Still Draws Heavy Police Attention
The shooting comes even as Minneapolis has seen a marked drop in homicides this year. The city had recorded 30 confirmed homicides in 2026 as of Friday, down from 41 by the same date in 2025, according to Bring Me The News. A Council on Criminal Justice report cited by KARE 11 found Minneapolis homicide rates fell 30 percent in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, though the outlet noted overall crime remains higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
Investigators may also have reason for optimism: MPR News reported in April that the Minneapolis Police Department solved 80 percent of its homicide cases in 2025, the department's highest clearance rate in recent history. Still, East Phillips remains a focal point for public safety resources. City data reported by Hoodline in August showed that MPD Precinct 3 in South Minneapolis and Precinct 4 in North Minneapolis together account for 61 percent of violent crime incidents and 75 percent of homicide victims citywide.
East Phillips itself is home to more than 22,000 residents, with 73.5 percent identifying as people of color and more than 34 percent under age 18 — double the citywide average for youth population, according to a 2025 Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board community report. That demographic profile has made repeated gun violence in the neighborhood especially concerning to local officials and residents alike.
Part Of A String Of Recent South Minneapolis Shootings
Friday's death adds to a string of shootings Hoodline has tracked across South Minneapolis this year, including a dawn shooting on Bloomington Avenue in the Phillips neighborhood in June and daylight gunfire in April that sent two men to the hospital and referenced a fatal March apartment shooting on the neighboring 2500 block of 17th Avenue South. Just eleven days ago, a man was shot outside a South Minneapolis Airbnb and rushed to the hospital hours later, another case that remains under MPD investigation.
For now, the investigation into Friday's fatal shooting on 18th Avenue South remains open. Police have not announced any arrests, and the man's identity awaits confirmation from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.
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