2 men fatally shot outside Minneapolis night club are identified
Police guard the scene of the mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis.
The scene outside Monarch after the May 22 shooting. Credit: Chad Davis via Flickr
The two people killed when gunfire broke out outside a downtown Minneapolis night club over the weekend have been officially identified as young men, both under the age of 25.
Charlie B. Johnson, 21, of Golden Valley, died of a gunshot wound to the chest at 1:59 a.m. Saturday outside Monarch night club near the intersection of 3rd Street and 1st Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.
Also killed in the shooting was 24-year-old Christopher R. Jones, of Brooklyn Park. Jones died directly outside of Monarch from multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner report says.
According to KSTP-TV, Jones is suspected of being one of the shooters in the incident. Bring Me The News has reached out to MPD for confirmation.
Johnson was set to graduate from the University of St. Thomas on Saturday.
“Our community is shocked and saddened by the news of Charlie’s death," UST President Julie Sullivan said in a press release. "We grieve with his family and friends and pray for their comfort. On a day he and his family should have been celebrating his graduation from our School of Engineering, we are devastated by this loss."
The university says Johnson was honored at all three commencement ceremonies on Saturday, "with his name read and an empty chair placed with a cap and gown."
The gunfire erupted just before 2 a.m. Saturday outside the club, with an officer working in the area running to the scene to find numerous victims "laying on the ground with obvious wounds likely from gunshots," a release from Minneapolis police says.
Ten people were shot in the mass shooting, including five men and five women. Six victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries while one person was transported to a hospital in critical condition. Johnson and Jones died at the scene.
The other suspected shooter, a 23-year-old man from Bloomington, was arrested Saturday and booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Seven homicide detectives are working the case and anyone with information is advised to contact CrimeStoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477, or submit an anonymous tip at CrimeStoppersMN.org.
Note: Some of the details provided in this story are based on the police’s latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
