The man who opened fire inside the Loring Tower apartments Wednesday, killing two people and wounding three Minneapolis police officers, had been facing eviction over repeated gun threats to residents and staff, court records show.
Carlton Neal Johnson II, 35, lived on the ninth floor of the high-rise at 15 East Grant Street. He was later found inside, dead from at least one gunshot wound, according to police.
Building management had moved to evict Johnson, and a hearing in the eviction case was scheduled for Sept. 11, according to court records reviewed by KSTP-TV and FOX 9. The complaint says his lease was supposed to be terminated in June after he assaulted another resident, openly displayed a firearm and threatened to kill someone. In one incident he walked into the management office with a gun visible; two days later he flashed the weapon at people on a nearby sidewalk, the records say.
KSTP reported that management had documented six instances of Johnson disturbing residents since January and that he was given a second chance on the condition he keep his firearm concealed on the property. Officers had also been called to his apartment earlier Wednesday for a disturbance, sources told the station.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office addressed the June incident directly on Thursday afternoon. Minneapolis police were called on June 25 after Johnson was reported to have displayed a firearm to another person, County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. Investigators determined that Johnson held a valid permit to carry and that the weapon never left his waistband.
Police sent the case to prosecutors on Aug. 20. Moriarty said an experienced attorney reviewed it under the office’s normal protocol and concluded it likely could not be charged, because the evidence would not prove a charge beyond a reasonable doubt. The office also screened the conduct for an Extreme Risk Protection Order — Minnesota’s red-flag petition — and found there was not enough evidence to seek one.
Johnson pleaded guilty to destruction of property in 2018 in a case in which he was accused of assaulting a sibling, FOX 9 reported. He was sentenced to four days in jail and probation.
The shooting was reported at 4:36 p.m. Officers arrived within two minutes and found two people shot in the lobby, then came under fire from an upper floor. On the ninth floor they moved through smoke or haze that limited visibility before exchanging gunfire, police said.
Two residents died, one at the building and one at the hospital. Three other civilians were treated at Hennepin Healthcare. Of the three officers shot, one was hit twice in the stomach and underwent surgery Wednesday night and was in stable condition. A second was shot in the leg and a third was treated for a non-life-threatening injury. All three are expected to recover. Four more officers were treated after exposure to an unknown airborne substance in the building, and two were hurt when their squad car crashed on Nicollet Avenue while responding.
Interim Police Chief Bill Peterson said officers “run toward gunfire when others are running from it,” and said the department was familiar with the suspect.
The victims had not been identified as of Thursday morning. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the officers’ use of force.
It is at least the second deadly shooting at the building in less than a year. Two people were killed in a shooting inside Loring Tower in September 2025.
READ MORE → 3 Dead, 3 Officers Wounded in Downtown Minneapolis Shooting
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