According to Minneapolis police, a 24-year-old Minneapolis man was charged with eight counts of attempted murder and assault for his role in a shooting that resulted in a mother and child suffering wounds from his wild shooting spree, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Monday.
Dontae Denae Peterson was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder for shooting at the driver of a sports utility vehicle, four counts of second-degree assault with the driver and the mother as the victim and two counts of first-degree assault with the baby as the victim. Four of the counts were charged as being for the benefit of a gang.
Peterson is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday and the county attorney’s office is asking for bail of $1 million.
“This is outrageous, criminal behavior that resulted in an innocent mother and child suffering terrible wounds,” Freeman said. “Minneapolis police investigators and our prosecutor worked tirelessly since the shooting to bring this case together. We will do everything in our power to prove Mr. Peterson guilty and make sure he does some serious time.”
According to the criminal complaint, Peterson is a member of the 10z gang (pronounced tens) and they have been feuding with a man known as OT2 and his associates. Before 2:15 PM Thursday of last week, Peterson and his friends had several loud arguments with OT2 and his friends at various locations near Peavey Park. During one of those, Peterson flashed his handgun at OT2, the complaint states.
At approximately 2:15 p.m., Peterson noticed the light-colored SUV in which OT2 and his friends had been riding was traveling north on Park Avenue. Peterson ran through Peavey Park and stood between two parked cars. As the SUV approached, Peterson admitted he fired his gun at least eight times, emptying it.
While some of the bullets hit the vehicle, at least one missed and struck the mother, traveling through her leg. She was walking south on the west side of Park Avenue and pushing a stroller which contained her 15-month old child and a bullet hit the baby’s abdomen and went out the child’s back. The child underwent surgery and is in stable condition, although the intestines and bowels are permanently damaged, according to the complaint.
I wonder if this guy had a registered weapon?