A Property Manager Warned Minneapolis a Tenant “Would Kill Someone.” The Eviction Hearing Was Still Nine Days Away When He Opened Fire.
- 2 civilians killed one at the scene, one later at Hennepin Healthcare, after gunfire tore through Shoreline Plaza in downtown Minneapolis on September 2, 2026 — Star Tribune / City of Minneapolis
- 9 officers hurt two shot directly (one twice in the abdomen, one in the leg), a third injured by non-gunfire means, four more exposed to an unknown airborne substance, and two more hurt in a squad-car crash en route — CBS Minnesota / Fox 9
- Under 2 minutes how fast responding officers reached the building and began following gunfire through heavy smoke to the 9th floor, where the shooter was later found dead — KSTP
- Sept. 11, 2026 the eviction hearing date on the shooter's case — still nine days away when he opened fire, months after his property manager warned in writing that he “would kill someone” — RedState / KSTP
Gunfire broke out at Shoreline Plaza, a high-rise apartment tower at 15 East Grant Street in downtown Minneapolis, at roughly 4:30 p.m. on September 2, 2026. Minneapolis police officers reached the building in under two minutes and followed the sound of shots through thick, smoke-choked hallways to the ninth floor, where they found the gunman — later identified as Carlton Neal Johnson II, 35 — dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. By the time it was over, two civilians were dead, three more were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and nine Minneapolis police officers had been shot, injured by an unknown airborne substance, or hurt in a squad-car crash racing to the scene.
No 911 caller and no police report warned Minneapolis that Johnson was capable of this. The explicit warning that he “would kill someone” came from Shoreline Plaza’s own property-management company — buried in a civil eviction complaint filed two and a half months before the shooting. The eviction case built on that warning was still open, with a hearing not scheduled until September 11, 2026 — nine days after Johnson opened fire.
The attack unfolded inside Shoreline Plaza, formerly known as Loring Towers, a residential high-rise a few blocks from Loring Park. Crime Watch Minneapolis, a local monitoring account, posted the first public alert around 4:30 p.m., reporting an active shooter and multiple injured parties at the address. Within minutes, Minneapolis police officers arrived, entered the building, and followed the sound of continuing gunfire up through the tower’s stairwells and hallways, which had filled with heavy haze and smoke, to the ninth floor.
My public safety team is responding to a shooting that took place downtown Minneapolis this afternoon. State officials are on the ground to support local law enforcement and we will share more information as it becomes available.
The suspected shooter is deceased. Seven people were transported to Hennepin Healthcare. One of those individuals died at the hospital. There was one individual who died at the scene.
The gun battle left a wide trail of injured officers. Two officers were shot directly — one twice in the abdomen, the other in the leg. A third officer was hurt by means other than gunfire, and four more were affected by an unknown airborne substance encountered inside the building. Two additional officers were injured separately when their squad car crashed en route to the scene. Two civilians were killed — one at the scene, one later at Hennepin Healthcare — and three more civilians were shot and hospitalized. Johnson was found dead on the ninth floor of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to CBS Minnesota; his cause of death remained formally under investigation in early reporting.
Johnson was not a stranger to Minneapolis police. Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson told reporters at a press briefing that officers were “familiar with” Johnson, though he declined to name him at the time. Records show Minneapolis police had built 34 prior criminal cases involving Johnson dating back to 2011. One of them, a 2018 domestic-assault case, is on the public record in stark terms: Johnson told responding officers he had a gun and that he was “not afraid to shoot people in the face.”
Witnesses say Johnson had told people exactly what he intended to do. Chris Miller, who knew Johnson, told reporters that Johnson said days before the attack that he planned to shoot people — naming an ex-girlfriend and two property managers among his targets. A separate, unidentified witness quoted by Newsweek said Johnson had told them, “I’m going to kill my baby mama and you’re going to witness it.” Those statements, like the eviction complaint’s warning, never reached a courtroom or a prosecutor before the shooting.
The clearest documented warning sat inside a civil court file, not a police file. Between January 16 and June 13, 2026, Shoreline Plaza’s property management company logged six separate lease violations against Johnson, including a March 23 assault on another resident and two instances — June 11 and June 13 — of Johnson openly displaying a firearm on the property. On June 16, 2026, management served Johnson an eviction notice that spelled out the danger explicitly: it alleged he had assaulted a resident, displayed a firearm, and made statements that he “would kill someone.” Rather than move to remove him immediately, the notice gave Johnson a conditional “last chance” to remain if he concealed firearms on the property going forward.
Downtown Minneapolis - Report of a SHOOTING at Loring Towers. Reportedly multiple injured parties. Reportedly an ACTIVE SHOOTER. 15 E Grant St...
Multiple sources have confirmed to Crime Watch that the suspect...was Carlton Johnson II, age 35. Eviction papers were filed against him...by Loring Towers in late June.
The warnings kept coming. On June 19, Johnson allegedly threatened a building security officer. On June 29, management filed an additional complaint alleging continued lease violations and an attempted bribe. On August 3, an attorney representing Johnson responded in the eviction case, arguing state law protects lawful firearm possession and denying that Johnson had made any threats. The eviction hearing where a judge would have weighed those competing claims was not scheduled until September 11, 2026 — nine days after Johnson walked into Shoreline Plaza and opened fire. The documented failure here sits in a slow civil landlord-tenant process, not a police tip that went unanswered.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) posted within hours: “My public safety team is responding to a shooting that took place downtown Minneapolis this afternoon. State officials are on the ground to support local law enforcement and we will share more information as it becomes available.” Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson called the attack “truly sickening,” but said that feeling was “tempered only by the courageous actions of the Minneapolis police officers who responded without hesitation, confronted an extraordinarily dangerous situation and worked to end violence and restore safety.”
“They rescued victims, brought people to safety, helped get approximately four people to the hospital, all while getting shot at themselves. But for their heroic work, the death toll would've been far higher.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D-Minneapolis), press conference, Sept. 2, 2026
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (DFL) — whose office would have prosecuted Johnson had he survived — called it “a terrible and shocking attack with numerous victims.” The response drew bipartisan statements: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) thanked “our courageous law enforcement,” while Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) said he was “praying for the Minneapolis police officers involved in this tragedy.” Minnesota Senate GOP Leader Mark Johnson (R) and House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R), a Republican candidate for governor, each issued statements praising the responding officers, and FBI Director Kash Patel (R, Trump appointee) confirmed the bureau was aware of the shooting and had offered federal resources to the investigation.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN)— Minnesota’s governor since 2019; his office pledged state resources to the local response but the shooting occurred entirely within a city and county under Democratic elected leadership.
Mayor Jacob Frey (D-Minneapolis)— Has led Minneapolis since 2018; praised officers’ response but has not announced any change to how the city’s civil eviction process is prioritized or expedited for documented threats of violence.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (DFL)— Would have been the prosecutor on any criminal case against Johnson; her office’s jurisdiction did not extend to accelerating the separate civil eviction case that documented his threats months earlier.
Because Johnson is dead, there will be no trial, no plea, and no verdict. Moriarty’s office cannot prosecute a defendant who did not survive the shooting, and the eviction hearing that had been scheduled for September 11 is now moot — the tenant it concerned is gone, along with the two civilians he killed. What remains is the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s review of the officers’ use of force during the exchange of gunfire, a standard, mandatory process under state protocol whenever an officer discharges a weapon in the line of duty. It is not a criminal investigation of Johnson; it exists solely to determine whether the officers who fired their weapons did so lawfully.
A property-management company warned, in writing, months before the shooting, that Carlton Johnson II “would kill someone.” That warning sat inside a civil eviction case moving through Hennepin County’s courts at ordinary speed, with a hearing that arrived nine days too late. Minneapolis police, separately, had documented 34 prior contacts with Johnson and knew him well enough that the interim chief called him “familiar” without naming him. Neither record stopped him from walking into Shoreline Plaza with a gun on September 2, 2026. Two people are dead, nine officers were hurt confronting him, and the only process left to hold anyone accountable is a routine state review of how the officers who stopped him used their weapons.
