Shootings prompt Minneapolis to send more officers to north side

Updated: 8:45 a.m. July 17 | Posted: 6:20 p.m. July 16

Minneapolis city officials say they will add extra police officers to neighborhoods on the north side following two early morning homicides on Thursday.

In one incident, two people were shot in the 2300 block of Thomas Avenue North, one fatally. In another, a 68-year-old artist was found dead in her home of a suspected murder.

In the home invasion, a family member asked police to check on Susan Spiller at her home in the 5100 block of Dupont Avenue North. Officers found Spiller's body in her home and evidence of a break-in, police said.

Police did not identify Spiller, but they did say the woman was murdered. No one is in custody.

Neighbors said Spiller was well known and liked in the community. They are heartbroken by her loss.

"She was a nice lady," said Anissa Moore, who lives next door. "She watched the neighborhood ... She walked her dog. That's it. [She planted] her plants and she stayed to herself."

Others who knew her said she was a talented glass artist, community gardener and member of the neighborhood association.

Fellow glass artist Connie Beckers, who knew Spiller for more than a decade, said her glasswork was beautiful.

"I think that will be devastating for people who admire her work, now that she's no longer going to be making it," Beckers said.

One of those admirers is Minneapolis City Council president Barb Johnson, who represents the neighborhood.

"I can't tell you how upset people are in north Minneapolis because of the loss of this lady," said Johnson, who was visibly shaken as she spoke at a press conference at City Hall.

Johnson said she was a good friend of Spiller, who once made her a custom sunglasses holder.

"So I didn't lose my sunglasses," Johnson recalled. "I was setting them down all the time and forgetting them."

In the other homicide in north Minneapolis, one person was shot to death and another was wounded.

Police say the two cases are part of a larger surge of violence in the city this summer, particularly in north Minneapolis.

So far 111 people in Minneapolis have been wounded by gunfire in 2015, a 6-percent increase over the same period last year, Assistant Police Chief Kris Arneson said.

Arneson said 74 of the shootings took place in north Minneapolis, where nearly half of the city's 26 homicides occurred.

In response to the recent violence, police will send eight additional officers to patrol the north side, Arneson said. That's on top of the annual summer crime strategy in which city officers are joined by officers from the State Patrol and Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

As to what is causing the wave of violence, Arneson said there are too many people who would rather settle their disputes with firearms than other means.

Officers who patrol the north side say a number of non-fatal shootings are gang-related, often a retaliation for a previous act of violence.