Hennepin County prosecutors have brought charges against suspects in three recent shootings in Minneapolis, including a late-night attack at a downtown bar over the weekend that left three people injured.
Charges were filed against at least five people in the incidents, which came during an especially bloody week in the city. Authorities said that at least one of the assaults was believed to be gang-related.
As of Monday, 138 people had been wounded in shootings across the city this year, one fewer than the 139 gunshot victims at this time last year, department statistics show.
At least two people have been charged in connection with a July 20 shooting outside Rouge at the Lounge, at 411 N. 2nd Av., that left three people with gunshot wounds, all noncritical.
Police say that shortly after 1 a.m., a brawl broke out between two groups of men outside the bar. Bouncers were trying to break up the fight with pepper spray when gunfire erupted.
Interviews with witnesses and victims, and footage from a nearby surveillance camera, led detectives to one of the suspected shooters, Jonathan Chavez-Galarza, 21, who has been charged with second-degree assault. Another man, 24-year-old Agustin Martinez, faces riot charges after police say he started firing at the other group only to have his gun jam.
Police say they recovered more than 10 spent shell casings from the crime scene, as well as "multiple live rounds" of two different calibers.
Authorities also used surveillance video to identify Alvaro Aleman, who was charged with being involved in a fight between the Sureños and WSK 13 gangs that ended in gunplay.
The altercation began early Sunday inside the El Miramar, at 501 E. Lake St., before spilling outside, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court this week. Prosecutors say that footage of the incident shows Aleman retrieving a handgun from a nearby vehicle and pistol-whipping a man twice before passing the gun off to a 17-year-old suspect. That suspect, who wasn't identified in the complaint because of his age, is accused of shooting a rival who had stabbed one of his fellow gang members, prosecutors say.
In the most recent attack, Robert Morris, 24, was charged with shooting a man with whom he was arguing Monday morning in the 1000 block of Currie Avenue N., police say. At least part of the incident was captured on camera.
Morris, who faces second-degree assault charges, is in custody in Michigan, where he was indicted by a federal grand jury on drug and weapons charges stemming from his alleged role in a 2017 slaying in Detroit.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064
