Minn. Lawmakers Push Statewide Funding After Nonfatal Shooting Unit Success
What to know
- Minnesota lawmakers are moving toward funding a statewide grant program to investigate nonfatal shootings, modeled after a St. Paul unit that nearly doubled its solve rate.
- Since launching the Non‑Fatal Shooting Unit in January 2024, St. Paul’s clearance rate rose from 37% to 71% while nonfatal shootings dropped 62%.
- Supporters say treating nonfatal shootings like attempted homicides helps remove illegal guns and repeat offenders, leading to fewer homicides and safer communities.
After St. Paul’s Non-Fatal Shooting Unit was started, the solve rate nearly doubled and the number of such shootings dropped 62 percent. Now, there’s a push to fund a statewide grant program.
The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill Monday that includes $1 million in funding to solve nonfatal shootings. A companion version has advanced in the Senate, but awaits a final vote.
“Safer communities start with solving crimes, and solving nonfatal shootings will help remove illegal guns and dangerous individuals off our streets,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said at a Thursday press conference at the Capitol. “Our success in St. Paul and Ramsey County shows this focus pays dividends in less violence, fewer homicides and safer neighborhoods. It’s a model that can and should be replicated statewide and across the nation.”
Started in St. Paul in January 2024, the Non-Fatal Shooting Unit treats those shootings as “failed homicides” with the kind of intensive investigations that usually are reserved for homicide investigations. The solve rate in St. Paul went from 37 percent in 2024 to 71 percent last year.
Nonfatal shootings in St. Paul decreased from 183 in 2024 to 73 last year.
With a May 17 deadline for legislators to pass bills, Choi, St. Paul Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher were among those speaking out Thursday in support of legislation for statewide funding.
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