A 20-year-old man was fatally shot early Thursday in north Minneapolis, marking the city's 78th homicide of the year.
Police found the man, later identified as Edward Mathew Thomas Hodges Jr., lying in the 2700 block of N. Dupont Avenue just before 3 a.m. after a ShotSpotter activation. A police spokesman said officers saw numerous people fleeing on foot. Hodges, who had been shot in the chest, died at the scene.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner on Thursday also identified the man gunned down in his car earlier this week in the 3800 block of N. Girard Avenue early Tuesday as Frank L. Barber, 49, of Crystal.
The 78 homicides in 2020 make it the third-worst year for such deaths in Minneapolis. In all of 2019, there were 48 homicides. The highest number, 97, was recorded in 1995; the second-highest, 83, in 1996.
Staff reports
