Investigators in Hennepin County say a deadly shootout at a Minneapolis homeless encampment earlier this month started as a fight over who was allowed to sell drugs in the area. The gunfire broke out just hours after another mass shooting disrupted drug dealing at a different site in the city.
Authorities have charged 30-year-old Trivon Leonard Jr., from Richton Park, Illinois, with first-degree riot and illegal gun possession. He is accused of being involved in the shooting near Lake Street and 28th Avenue South that killed 30-year-old Jacinda Oakgrove and left six others wounded.
Leonard has a long criminal history in Illinois, where he remains on parole for multiple felony convictions. Shockingly, he had been released from Hennepin County Jail just four hours before the shooting. Two days earlier, police arrested him for allegedly speeding through Minneapolis while drunk, driving at 92 miles per hour.
The deadly gunfire was one of two mass shootings that happened within 12 hours in Minneapolis that day, pushing city officials to shut down the encampment where it occurred. The site sat on a private parking lot owned by Minneapolis landlord Hamoudi Sabri.
One of the victims told investigators that he went to the camp to buy drugs and was moving from tent to tent when he overheard a man and woman arguing about who had the right to sell there. According to witnesses, a new group of drug dealers had recently moved into the area, and tensions quickly escalated. Members of the rival crew pulled out weapons during the argument beneath a canopy, and gunfire soon erupted.
Police say witnesses described the group arriving in a white SUV. Surveillance video captured the scene, showing chaos as bullets struck people from both groups as well as innocent bystanders. One victim was shot in the neck and armpit, while another was wounded alongside Oakgrove, who was killed by a gunshot to the head. Witnesses said Oakgrove had nothing to do with the drug dispute and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Footage also showed a man running from the scene with a gun, climbing a fence, and jumping into a Hyundai. Investigators identified him as Leonard and noted that he was wearing the same clothing he had on when he was released from jail earlier that day.
When police arrested Leonard, they found two baggies of suspected fentanyl and meth, about $1,000 in cash, and a fake Illinois ID card. At first, Leonard denied involvement but later admitted he had come to Minneapolis with four other men from Illinois to sell drugs. He said they had been selling near the Midtown Greenway until the city shut the area down after a separate mass shooting earlier that day injured five people. That closure, ordered by Mayor Jacob Frey, forced Leonard’s group to relocate to the encampment where the deadly confrontation broke out.
Leonard told police the rival group fired first, but once shots were exchanged, “everyone else” joined in. He admitted that after fleeing the scene, he sold his gun on Lake Street for $200. When shown a photo of Oakgrove, Leonard didn’t deny that she died because of the shootout but was reportedly evasive and showed no remorse.
Court records show Leonard only recently moved to Minneapolis but has already faced several charges since June, including first-degree drug possession, driving without a license, and DWI. His criminal history in Illinois includes robbery, drug possession, property damage, animal cruelty, and possession of a firearm as a felon.
He appeared in court on Friday, where a judge set his bail at $1 million. The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
