Credit: Chad Davis via Flickr
A man possibly linked to a shooting that injured two National Guard soldiers north of Minneapolis in the early hours of Sunday morning faces federal charges in U.S. district court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota announced Monday that Andrew Thomas, 28, of Minneapolis, has been charged with being a criminal in possession of a firearm.
The Advocacy release does not accuse Thomas of firing on National Guard soldiers, it only says he and a boy were arrested Sunday evening in an SUV that matched the description of what was sought in connection with the shooting.
At 4:19 a.m. Sunday, they were shot from a light-colored SUV at the corner of Penn and West Broadway avenues, according to police. A bullet passed through the windshield of the military vehicle carrying four soldiers.
One soldier was taken to a hospital to treat injuries caused by broken glass and another was treated at the scene for superficial injuries.
Thomas and the boy were arrested south of Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, near 6th Street South and Cedar Avenue South. Police stopped the crime after locating a 2002 Ford Explorer that matched the description of the vehicle involved in the driving shooting earlier in the day.
Officers found a semi-automatic pistol and a 22-caliber revolver in the vehicle, along with ammunition and two cartridges of unloaded cartridges.
Thomas will appear before a federal judge on Tuesday.
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“I am relieved to know that none of our guards were seriously injured,” General Shawn Manke, deputy general of the Minnesota National Guard, said in a statement Sunday. “This event highlights the volatility and tension of our communities at this time. I call for peace as we work through this difficult time.”
Guardsmen are in the Twin Cities as part of the Minnesota Security Operation’s response to civil unrest related to the death of Daunte Wright’s police at Brooklyn Center and Derek’s murder trial Chauvin, who is now in the hands of the jury.