This is really not a good one.A
gunman who opened fire inside a Minneapolis sign-making business killed four
people before fatally shooting himself, police said early Friday.
The
victims' bodies were found shortly after officers arrived at Accent Signage
Systems Inc., located in a residential area in the city's north side, after
receiving a 911 call Thursday afternoon, according to a statement from police
spokesman Sgt. Stephen McCarty.
"When
officers arrived and entered the business to assist with the evacuation of
employees, give aid to the victims and to search for the suspect, they found
four victims dead from apparent gunshot wounds," the statement
said.
Four
other people were wounded, including three critically.
No details were released about the shooter, other than he was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
No details were released about the shooter, other than he was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
During
a news conference Thursday night, Minneapolis Police Deputy Chief Kris Arneson
wouldn't specify how many people had been killed, saying only that "several"
victims were found dead inside. She said police never fired at the shooter, but
she didn't release other details — including the shooter's possible motive or
whether he had worked at the company.
Hennepin County Medical Center was treating the
four patients, including three men in critical condition, according to a
hospital spokeswoman. The fourth victim suffered minor injuries, police
said.
None
of the victims' names has been released.
Someone
from inside the building called 911 around 4:30 p.m. to report the shootings,
police said. The first officers on the scene quickly began evacuating people
from the business and closed off several blocks.
Dozens
of squad cars and SWAT officers swarmed the neighborhood Thursday afternoon, and
traffic was stopped on a nearby bridge along Penn Avenue, where officers had
rifles drawn and pointed at the business and a park below.
By
Thursday evening, police vehicles were still surrounding the business. People
from the neighborhood milled around but deputies kept them back.
Marques Jones, 18, of Minneapolis, said he was outside a building down the street having his high school senior pictures taken when he and his photographer heard gunfire that sounded close.
Marques Jones, 18, of Minneapolis, said he was outside a building down the street having his high school senior pictures taken when he and his photographer heard gunfire that sounded close.
"We
heard about four to five gunshots," Jones said. "We were shocked at what
happened and we just looked at each other. We all just took off running to our
vehicles."
According to Accent Signage Systems' website, the
company makes interior signage and lists its founder as Reuven Rahamim. A phone
messages left at the business was not immediately returned, and a woman who
answered the phone at Rahamim's residential listing declined comment.
The
company employed 28 people as of July, according to a feature on the business in
Finance & Commerce, a local business publication. The paper reported that
U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce Francisco Sanchez visited it in August in a
trip focused on exporting, and praised the company for its innovation.
The
company developed a patented technology for producing signs in Braille and had
licensed out the technology to companies in 38 countries, the newspaper
said.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said employees who were
working when the shootings occurred were together and being cared for Thursday
evening.
"We are deeply sorry about what has happened here," he said, calling the shootings "a horrible tragedy."
___
Associated Press writers Doug Glass and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis, and Barbara Rodriguez, Erin Gartner and Dave Nichols in Chicago contributed to this report
"We are deeply sorry about what has happened here," he said, calling the shootings "a horrible tragedy."
___
Associated Press writers Doug Glass and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis, and Barbara Rodriguez, Erin Gartner and Dave Nichols in Chicago contributed to this report
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