cheka.
27th May 2016, 11:57 PM
the stats and comments from the locals tell the tale
nyc.dc's attack plan paying solid dividends
http://www.startribune.com/grandmother-shot-killed-by-errant-bullet-in-north-minneapolis-identified/381138361/#1
Grandmother shot, killed by errant bullet was a North Side force for kindness
The slaying of Birdell Beeks renewed calls to end North Side violence.
Before her death was held up as the latest example of the violence gripping north Minneapolis, she was a beloved mother and grandmother whose house was the scene of family Sunday dinners.
Before her name was scrawled in red marker next to the city's other unsolved slayings on a dry erase board in the police department's Homicide Unit, people knew her only as "Fludder."
Birdell Beeks did not come home on Thursday after a gunman or gunmen opened fire on a blue minivan that she and her teenage granddaughter were sitting in. She doted on her family, but relatives insisted that her generosity extended to the rest of the North Side community she had called home throughout her life.
"She was kind of known as your big momma on the block," said her nephew, Anthijuan Beeks, a former Minneapolis police officer.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said in a statement Friday that the department has placed "every additional resource into the areas plagued by gun violence that we can," and that she would put 12 extra officers on the streets in the Fourth Precinct over the next few weeks.
Neighborhoods held hostage
At a City Council meeting Friday, President Barbara Johnson said the killing was an example of the unchecked violence now holding some neighborhoods "hostage."
"It's absolutely unacceptable. We've got groups of younger people that are out of control," she said. "It was only a matter of time before there was a fatality in this latest uptick [in violence]."
Several council members have raised concerns in recent weeks about whether the police department has an overarching strategy for taming the gun violence, particularly as the weather warms up. Harteau said that police would work quickly to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
"As we continue to work aggressively to address our increase in gun violence, one of my greatest concerns has been realized; people with no regard for the lives of those in our community taking the life of an innocent bystander. This is intolerable and unacceptable," her statement said.
The chief, who had been out of town the past few days for a national policing conference, will hold an emergency meeting this weekend with police and community leaders to discuss the violence.
In roughly the first five months of the year, 123 people have been shot in Minneapolis — 97 of them on the North Side — compared with 65 during the same period last year. Meanwhile, aggravated assaults, which include shootings and are considered a key measure of a city's safety, are up 14 percent citywide. On Thursday, at least three other people were shot across Minneapolis.
'Brimming with life'
Police have attributed the surge in North Side crime to an escalating gang war between the North Side's "High-End" and "Low-End" gang factions — the "Highs" in the northern half of north Minneapolis, and the "Lows" in the southern half.
Beeks' daughter wrote in a Facebook post Friday that Beeks "had come through many storms from diabetes to kidney failure to most recently cancer!"
She continued: "But my Mother did not deserve to die at the hands of ignorance in the streets."
A vigil is planned for this weekend, relatives said, and the funeral is likely to be held next week.
nyc.dc's attack plan paying solid dividends
http://www.startribune.com/grandmother-shot-killed-by-errant-bullet-in-north-minneapolis-identified/381138361/#1
Grandmother shot, killed by errant bullet was a North Side force for kindness
The slaying of Birdell Beeks renewed calls to end North Side violence.
Before her death was held up as the latest example of the violence gripping north Minneapolis, she was a beloved mother and grandmother whose house was the scene of family Sunday dinners.
Before her name was scrawled in red marker next to the city's other unsolved slayings on a dry erase board in the police department's Homicide Unit, people knew her only as "Fludder."
Birdell Beeks did not come home on Thursday after a gunman or gunmen opened fire on a blue minivan that she and her teenage granddaughter were sitting in. She doted on her family, but relatives insisted that her generosity extended to the rest of the North Side community she had called home throughout her life.
"She was kind of known as your big momma on the block," said her nephew, Anthijuan Beeks, a former Minneapolis police officer.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said in a statement Friday that the department has placed "every additional resource into the areas plagued by gun violence that we can," and that she would put 12 extra officers on the streets in the Fourth Precinct over the next few weeks.
Neighborhoods held hostage
At a City Council meeting Friday, President Barbara Johnson said the killing was an example of the unchecked violence now holding some neighborhoods "hostage."
"It's absolutely unacceptable. We've got groups of younger people that are out of control," she said. "It was only a matter of time before there was a fatality in this latest uptick [in violence]."
Several council members have raised concerns in recent weeks about whether the police department has an overarching strategy for taming the gun violence, particularly as the weather warms up. Harteau said that police would work quickly to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
"As we continue to work aggressively to address our increase in gun violence, one of my greatest concerns has been realized; people with no regard for the lives of those in our community taking the life of an innocent bystander. This is intolerable and unacceptable," her statement said.
The chief, who had been out of town the past few days for a national policing conference, will hold an emergency meeting this weekend with police and community leaders to discuss the violence.
In roughly the first five months of the year, 123 people have been shot in Minneapolis — 97 of them on the North Side — compared with 65 during the same period last year. Meanwhile, aggravated assaults, which include shootings and are considered a key measure of a city's safety, are up 14 percent citywide. On Thursday, at least three other people were shot across Minneapolis.
'Brimming with life'
Police have attributed the surge in North Side crime to an escalating gang war between the North Side's "High-End" and "Low-End" gang factions — the "Highs" in the northern half of north Minneapolis, and the "Lows" in the southern half.
Beeks' daughter wrote in a Facebook post Friday that Beeks "had come through many storms from diabetes to kidney failure to most recently cancer!"
She continued: "But my Mother did not deserve to die at the hands of ignorance in the streets."
A vigil is planned for this weekend, relatives said, and the funeral is likely to be held next week.