August 6, 2002 - More than two thousand people are expected in tiny Bloomer, Wisconsin today to say goodbye to Minneapolis police officer, Melissa Schmidt. Schmidt grew up in Bloomer. She died last week, after a shootout with a suspect in a Minneapolis apartment building. The suspect, 60 year old Martha Donald, also died. an honor guard of Minneapolis officers has been with Schmidt's body since her death...and will accompany the casket during the procession to the church and cemetary. According to Deputy Police Chief, Greg Hestness...the honor guard is part of police tradition.
August 23, 2002 - Dozens of people shouted at police and broke windows last night in north Minneapolis after an eleven-year-old boy was shot in the arm by a bullet that ricocheted from a police officer's gun. The officer was shooting at a pit bull dog that attacked police who were trying to serve a search warrant on a house suspected of drug activity. Tensions arose after Twin Cities news media arrived to cover the boy's shooting. The windows of a bus and several news vehicles were smashed. One news van also was set on fire. Several reporters suffered minor injuries. Authorities say three people were arrested in connection to the search warrant. Minnesota Public Radio reporter Brandt Williams lives in the neighborhood where the shooting occured. He picks up the story when he first heard shots.
August 23, 2002 - Minneapolis officials and leaders of a north Minneapolis neighborhood today urged peace and calm following an incident last night that resulted in one wounded boy and assaults on several reporters. What began as a drug raid escalated into a riot when a bullet fired by an officer at a pit bull either ricocheted or dislodged concrete that hit the boy in the forearm. People upset by the injury to the boy yelled at police and hurled rocks and bottles. They also took out their anger on several news reporters and their vehicles by setting one on fire and breaking out windows in others.
August 27, 2002 - A group plans to gather in the North Minneapolis Jordan neighborhood tonight to continue working on bringing calm and safety to the area. The neighborhood was the site of tensions last week after police accidentially injured a young boy during a drug raid. Anne Yin is hosting the meeting. She says neighborhood residents have been meeting informally for about a year now, and tonight's gathering is a chance to re-focus their efforts.
August 27, 2002 - A federal mediator will return to North Minneapolis on Thursday, hoping to improve relations between the predominently African-American community and the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of last week's riot. Right after the incident, Patricia Glenn visited the community and conducted preliminary talks. Glenn, who's based in Chicago, has extensive experience mediating between law enforcement and communities of color. She helped when Cincinnatti exploded in riots after a string of police shootings. She says the meetings in Minneapolis last week were a good start.
August 27, 2002 - The atmosphere remains calm in the North Minneapolis neighborhood which last week exploded in a violent melee after a young boy was injured during a police raid. As neighbors and city officials try to make sense of what happened, some are asking why the house -- suspected by police and neighbors as a drug house - is still occupied.
August 28, 2002 - Representatives from The City, Inc. announced this morning they will discontinue their patrols of the north Minneapolis neighborhood which was the site of last week's melee. The activists say the patrols of the area will stop because of opposition from some of the neighborhood residents who've openly criticized the leaders of the patrols. However, Minneapolis city officials continue to praise the work of the same leaders for their role in calming tensions during last week's incident and credit them with keeping the peace last weekend.
August 30, 2002 - Thursday night the Minneapolis city council prepared to listen to feeback on plans to restructure the city's police civilian review authority. They wound up getting a taste of some of the frustrations voiced by members of the black community who feel they've been treated unfairly by police officers. Some of those who offered testimony say a mediator is needed to handle the rising tensions among some inner city residents and police officers.
September 25, 2002 - MPR’s Art Hughes and Brandt Williams report on the tenth anniversary Jerry Haaf murder. The thirty-year police veteran died on the floor of the Pizza Shack restaurant in south Minneapolis after being shot in the back during his morning coffee break. The execution-style shooting remains one of the most shocking acts of violence against an officer in Minneapolis history.
October 15, 2002 - The war on drugs, one police official says, does not appear to be slowing illicit drug sales in some Minneapolis neighborhoods. On Bloomington Avenue in south Minneapolis residents say the drug dealing is the worst they've seen in 20 years. Residents formed a citizens patrol which has caused some of the dealers to move. However, police and neighbors say sellers are arrested and turned lose only to return to the area. They want judges to bar alleged drug sellers from some areas of the city.