Two teens shot in the head

In two nights, two teenagers were shot in the head in unrelated incidents. On Thursday night, a 17-year-old boy was shot near the intersection of Lowry and Irving. No arrests have been made, and the boy will survive. Friday night, a 12-year-old girl leaving a party at 18th and Oliver at midnight (?!) was hit in the head by a stray bullet. She's in "serious condition" at North Memorial.

Gunshot hits Northside school bus

A special needs school bus -- luckily one not filled with kids -- was hit by a bullet on Penn and 36th Tuesday afternoon. KARE-11 reports:

"Sounded like firecrackers going off on the 4th of July, but when they go off in this neighborhood you kind of know they're not firecrackers," said Ray Cole, who heard several gunshots at one time while he was in his office.

Police say at least one bullet nearly killed the bus driver. According to the police report, the bullet went through the driver's door and grazed her back - a relatively minor injury that police say could have been much worse.

"We were very fortunate that there were no children at the bus. The driver was in between routes so the bus was empty," Minneapolis Police Sgt. Tammy Diedrich said.

Full story.

Northsidewalks

Spotted outside the Bean Scene, Penn and Broadway

1000 rally for peace in North

As of last Saturday, 21 people -- mostly African American men -- have been killed in Minneapolis this year, and this pace of killing continues, 60 people will have been murdered by the year's end. On Saturday, the Peace Foundation and around 1,000 area residents rallied for support and in the spirit of putting a stop to it. Abdi Aynte at Minnesota Monitor reports.

Above: Doris Young, holding a photo of her son Sterling Horton, who was gunned down in North Minneapolis last year.

Uncle Bill's is condemned.

Finally. Uncle Bill's, the convenience store at the corner of Penn and Sheridan and a locus of crime in Willard-Hay, has been condemned by the city and will shut down May 31, according to North News. Whether it stays closed -- and if so, what replaces it -- is another question.

Read more.

Update

Hi folks,
As co-Star Stephan is in Brooklyn for the winter, and I'm bogged down with blogging at Minnesota Monitor and my own site, updates to The North Star will continue to be sporadic. If you'd like to see more regular posts on northside events and viewpoints, get involved: we welcome like-minded northsiders to join this blog. Leave a comment here if you'd like to be part of this site.

Thanks.
Paul

What the northside can learn from contrite killers

With three murders committed during the first 11 days of this year, Minneapolis is on pace to quadruple last year’s 60 homicides. The brunt of the victims—and suspects—were African Americans.

Facing that grim statistic, around 150 people gathered at the Urban League in North Minneapolis Thursday night to not only keep the death toll down, but to let the youth know the immense consequences of a murder. So, they enlisted the help of four unusual experts: convicted murderers serving sentences at the Stillwater prison.

The four men, Adoniyah Israel, Joseph Spann, Leon Perry, and Vava Kuaddafi, all young and black, appeared with City Council member Don Samuels and Urban League president Clarence Hightower via video satellite uplink, and shared sometimes chilling, sometimes moving stories about their crimes, prison life, and the conditions that led to their incarceration.

While common threads emerged—all four were raised by single parents, all four were involved with gangs—the individual stories had the most power.

Kuaddafi, 38, says that of his 23 years in Minnesota, he spent 21 years in prison. He said that he’d been molested as a boy and that he merely wanted to “inflict pain, like it was done to me. I knew it was wrong, but someone had to pay for my pain…Gang life, that was my religion, and that’s how I lived,” he said.

Others recounted long idle periods and lack of supervision that led to an urge to do something, which often turned a crime.

Perry, 34, recalls endless hours he spent as a youth at North Commons’ Hospitality House. He said, “No one asked why we hung out there all day.”

Spann,30, said he was “a follower… a people pleaser.” His older brother was his role model. But when the brother stopped crimes, “I kept on going…. that led me to here.”

“Being poor, not having much, you want things: excitement, to be known, a reputation, to be popular.”

And Israel, 35, who lamented “ a lot of times these kids are out there raising themselves,” said that he was “carried away with the hype and glamour of things.”

The Solution?

All four men, who were repeatedly commended for coming out, said that they are in a better position to warn the youth of the menaces in the street.

Israel: “Parents: listen to young people about how they want to spend time. Figure out what’s important to these kids—ask them—and work from there. “

Kuaddafi: “Interrupt isolation. Don’t be angry. I was angry and arrogant person.”

Spann: “Know you’ve a purpose in life. Learn how to listen.”

Perry: Focus. Come up with a vision. Know God.”

That last statement drew a round of applause and “hallelujahs!”

The men said they often think—and express remorse—about their victims. Israel stabbed his girlfriend to death. Spann and Kuaddafi killed grocery clerks during separate robberies. Perry murdered an acquaintance in a parked car.

”Mending the nest”

The program was labeled “Mending the Nest,” a monthly discussion hosted by the Urban League. It was started by Urban League president Clarence Hightower after 16-year-old Courtney Brown was murdered over a sports jersey he was wearing.

The aim is to cut the homicide rate in half in 2007, reduce the number of African Americans going to prison by 20 percent, and increase the number of African American youth enrolled in both summer employment programs and post-secondary education.

Boise Jones, project manager at Pillsbury United Communities entrepreneur training program, said that 35 percent of those released from prison end up back in jail, not because they re-offend, but because they can’t meet the basic conditions of parole—to find stable work and housing within 30 to 60 days of release. His formula—“Increase opportunity, decrease crime”—would focus on these “institutional barriers” that prevent smooth reintegration for former prisoners.

Todd Barnes, a consultant with the Urban League, said that the purpose of the discussion was “high drama.”

“It’s how do you stop people from pulling the trigger.”

The message, he said, is a sense of hope: “Listen, process, come to the table when you’ve issues.”

Looking around the room, the mostly African American crowd was filled with familiar faces: Al Flowers, Spike Moss, Rev. Jerry McAfee, councilmember Betsy Hodges and MAD DADs founder VJ Smith, organizer James Everett, and Kim Ellison.

[This story was cowritten by Paul Schmelzer and Abdi Aynte for Minnesota Monitor. Image: Joseph Spann addresses the audience as MAD DADS members look on.]

Too close for comfort.

This would be one block away:

An 18-year-old man was shot to death in north Minneapolis while riding in a car, police said today.

According to police: The driver of the car told police that the shooting occurred Thursday afternoon near Plymouth and Sheridan Avenues, when the victim was riding in a car.

Park Police saw the car driving erratically on Theodore Wirth Parkway. They followed the car to North Memorial Hospital.

The victim's identity has yet to be released. No suspects are in custody.

No word yet on a motive for the shooting.

Update: The victim was identified as 18-year-old Tou Vue.