A man arranged a transaction with another man on the 4700 block of Emerson Avenue North in Minneapolis that ended with the victim being shot in the leg, according to a criminal complaint.
Damien Charles Dates faces a charge of aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in Hennepin County District Court. The charge was filed October 23.
According to the complaint, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department responded to a report of a person being shot outside a residence on the 4700 block of Emerson Avenue North on May 14, 2026. Officers found the victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the right leg. The victim was transported to North Memorial Hospital for treatment.
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At the hospital, the victim told officers he and a cousin were inside a vehicle attempting to purchase something from another person in the vehicle. The victim said a person in the vehicle drew a firearm and took money from him. The victim said he managed to get out of the vehicle and started to run away when he was shot.
Officers reviewed surveillance video showing a Chevrolet Equinox parked in front of the residence and a sedan parked behind it. The video showed the victim near the sedan before fleeing on foot. Officers found a bullet fragment on the ground near where the vehicles had been parked.
A witness who was in the area at the time told officers he heard the victim and an unidentified suspect in a verbal argument, then heard three gunshots. The witness said the victim was driving a Chevy Equinox and the unidentified suspect was in a light blue Chevy sedan, possibly an Impala.
During the investigation, the victim provided officers with a photograph of a person who was dating one of the unidentified suspects. Officers determined that person was dating Damien Charles Dates. A forensic examination of the victim’s phone showed communications with Dates about arranging a transaction on May 14.
Another witness identified Dates and said he also went by “Lil Dee.” When shown a photograph of Dates, the first witness confirmed Dates was the front passenger of the blue sedan at the time the victim was shot.
Investigators obtained vehicle rental records showing an associate of Dates rented a blue Chevrolet Malibu with a Colorado license plate on May 12, 2026, and returned it on May 14 at 4:35 p.m. The associate confirmed the vehicle was rented for Dates. A forensic examination of Dates’s phone showed calls and messages immediately before and after the shooting, and GPS data placed the phone near the scene and later near the rental car company.
Officers also found messages between the victim and Dates before and after the shooting indicating Dates set up the transaction where the victim was shot.
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Jurisdictional Context
Hennepin County is Minnesota’s most populous jurisdiction. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 44 other cities; the Fourth Judicial District presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
