Minneapolis shooting suspect was facing eviction after allegedly threatening residents with a gun

Shoreline Plaza, a high-rise apartment complex near Loring Park, was the site of a mass shooting Wednesday evening that left three people dead, including two civilians and the suspected gunman. Investigators are now focused on the history of 35-year-old Carlton Neal Johnson II, the man believed to have opened fire inside the building.

Police received the first 911 call at approximately 4:36 p.m. reporting that one person had been shot, according to CBS. Responding officers arrived in under two minutes and entered the building despite hearing active gunfire, moving toward an upper floor where an unexplained haze had cut visibility. It was there that they encountered the gunman and exchanged fire.

Two officers were shot during the standoff, one in the leg and another twice in the abdomen, and both required surgery. A third officer suffered a separate, non-life-threatening injury, four more were exposed to an unknown airborne substance inside the building, and two others were hurt in a squad car crash while responding to the scene. Wednesday’s shooting is the latest in a recent Twin Cities killing streak to draw Mayor Jacob Frey’s office into a crime response this year.

Johnson was fighting an eviction from the building he’s accused of shooting up

Officials had not released the names of the two civilians who died as of Thursday morning. One was found at the scene, and the other died after being taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. Three other civilians who were shot survived and were treated at local hospitals. Local police, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the FBI were all involved in the response, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said officers acted heroically to move residents to safety while under fire.

Court documents show Johnson was already fighting an eviction from Shoreline Plaza before the shooting. Building management served him with a notice in June alleging he had repeatedly violated his lease, including assaulting another resident in March, openly carrying a firearm on the property, and threatening to kill people. Management said he displayed a gun in the leasing office and flashed it at people outside the building.

Johnson and his legal team disputed the claims, arguing he held a valid permit to carry a handgun and denying the allegations of assault or threats. A hearing on the eviction was scheduled for September 11. Some reports have said he had already been evicted on the day of the shooting, while others describe the case as still pending, so his legal status at the time remains unclear.

Some residents told reporters that Johnson had talked about wanting to kill his former girlfriend and two property managers in the days before the shooting. Another woman said he grabbed her shortly beforehand and made a threat involving his child’s mother. Those accounts are still allegations rather than official findings, and police have not confirmed them.

Law enforcement sources have told multiple outlets that Johnson’s death appears to be self-inflicted. Police have not confirmed how he died and have not released a medical examiner’s finding. It’s not the only recent Minneapolis shooting to draw scrutiny of law enforcement’s own conduct. The fatal Minneapolis ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good earlier this year drew a similar fight over what the video actually showed.

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office has not yet confirmed how Johnson died.