Minneapolis shooter threatened to shoot ex-girlfriend before opening fire killing 2, injuring 6 others

The dead gunman who shot two people dead at an apartment complex in Minneapolis had previously told residents that he wanted to "kill someone" and had also threatened to shoot his ex-girlfriend.

Carlton Johnson II, 35, shot two people dead and injured multiple others, including police, before taking his own life on Wednesday. Johnson had a reputation and got into conflicts with other residents at the Shoreline Plaza, where he allegedly assaulted someone, made threats, and showed off his gun multiple times in the months before the shooting, per the Minnesota Star Tribune. The shooter had been fighting an eviction proceeding because of the alleged threats he made to others in the apartment complex.

According to neighbor Chris Miller, Johnson had threatened to shoot his ex-girlfriend and two property managers at the apartment complex. 

Police said that they were "familiar with who this person was" after the shooting took place on Wednesday. Johnson had been served an eviction notice on June 16, which claimed that he breached his lease six times between January 16 and June 13. He had walked around the apartment complex in June with a gun and made “multiple statements to other residents” that he “would kill someone.” In March, he allegedly assaulted someone in the complex, according to the eviction documents.

On June 25, he "accosted staff" at the complex and threatened another resident with his firearm. He confronted the staff at the complex and "attempted to bribe staff to tell him who had called the police," per the landlord's notice.

Neighbors said they thought that Johnson was planning some sort of massacre in the days leading up to the shooting. Miller recalled a conversation that took place on Sunday or Monday before the shooting. “He said, ‘I’m going to shoot people,’” Miller said. “He was very, very angry, drunk and mad.”

Resident Derrick Thompson said that the suspect was “fighting people every day, every d*mn day."

Police have not revealed the motive for the shooting that took place on Wednesday. Thompson told reporters that he was collecting his mail on Wednesday when he "heard a girl screaming."

“It wasn’t long before all hell broke loose,” he added. Shots were fired, and multiple victims were in the apartment complex lobby before police showed up. One person who was shot died after they were taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center. Another was dead at the scene. Police have yet to identify the victims of the shooting.

Three police officers were also injured during a firefight with the suspect. One officer was shot in the stomach, another took a bullet to the leg, and a third officer had a non-life-threatening injury.

Although police did not disclose how the shooter was killed, KSTP reported that Johnson died by suicide. The shooter also has a criminal record. In 2018, he was charged with domestic assault against his sister after she alleged that he threw her around while drunk inside her home. The charge was later dropped and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor property damage charge. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but 86 of those were stayed.